Dow Olympics VP on Bhopal Controversy, 2012 Stadium Wrap

(ATR) Dow Chemical VP of Olympic Operations George Hamilton tells Around the Rings attempts to link the Midland, Michigan-based company to a 1984 industrial disaster in Bhopal, India are "misinformed, misguided and misdirected".

In a wide-ranging interview conducted during 200-days-to-go events for London 2012, Hamilton alsotalks aboutthe fabric wrap bound for Olympic Stadium as well as where he's been spending the bulk of his time.

Hint: it's not where you might think.

Around the Rings: Dow Chemical has been in the news quite a bit lately over the stadium wrap for London. Why is this an important project for Dow?

George Hamilton: We are absolutely committed to applying our technology and our solutions to help make London 2012 the most successful and the most sustainable Games in the history of the Olympics.

In fact, that is the reason why we decided to get into the tender process for the stadium wrap – it wasn’t to put our diamond and rings or to put the Dow brand on the stadium. Folks know that there are some pretty hard and fast rules about what you can do in terms of advertising and branding in and around the Olympics, especially leading up to Games-time.

So branding or advertising on the stadium was never what this was about – it was about how do we use that application as a way to bring the solution. Two things London was looking for was a partner who could help reduce the cost of delivering the stadium wrap – the public funding for that had been pulled – but the designers of the stadium and LOCOG felt that from a decorative standpoint, from a way-finding standpoint, so that the spectators could come and find their way as they get into the stadium that the wrap would be an important element. So they went out for tender and looked for a company that could deliver that and help relieve the expense from the public funding which had been pulled.

The second thing they require was a number of performance elements of a wrap in terms of structurally what it has to do, decoratively what it has to do – there are all kinds of standards and building codes put into place, but they were really driving for a company that could deliver a more sustainable wrap. To deliver a wrap that was produced and a product that did not contain PVC and that would be a breakthrough for this kind of application. So as we looked at this application, it was and is an opportunity for Dow to bring a more sustainable solution than PVC.

And to be able to tell that story as we go to other Olympic Games, as we go to other markets – football, world football, Formula 1 – to use the same type of technology in this story to show the world that we are about solutions and the storytelling around that is really where the value is, and that’s what that has always been about.

We needed to do that because a lot of people don’t see Dow every day – and if you look around the Olympic Village, we are in a number of applications, but they’re not going to be visible and not going to be known to the general public.

We’re in the insulation in the stadiums, we’re in the roofing materials for a number of the buildings, we’re in the plastic pipes that bring the water into and out of the stadiums.

Our products are in the wiring cable of power generation, for broadcasting the Games. The running track will contain Dow polyurethane. The artificial turf in the hockey pitches will be made out of Dow elastomers. A number of the coatings that are used in the Olympic Park contain Dow latex. The road markings, the lane markings, traffic markings includes Dow technology.

We’re in the handheld devices, we’re in the televisions. I mean, 90 percent of everything you see and touch everyday has chemistry in it. And with Dow being one of the most successful chemical companies around the world, there’s a pretty good chance you’re coming into contact with Dow many, many times in your day.

So the wrap was a way for us to begin to tell that story about how chemistry, science and technology impact and can bring improvements to society, to the environment and to the world.

ATR: Is there really any opposition to the sustainability or quality of the wrap? Isn’t the controversy more about the image association Dow has with Union Carbide and Bhopal?

GH: The stories around the wrap are certainly weighted towards the legacy issue of Bhopal.

We’ve not been really surprised about that, but we have been surprised about how much attention has been given to it and how a few politicians here in the UK have enthusiastically jumped on this topic.

The facts are that this incident happened in 1984, and from the horrific nature of that incident it’s understandable that we’re talking about Bhopal today.

What’s not understandable is how there’s so many people misguided and misinformed about the facts. In 1984, Union Carbide and the Indian government entered into a settlement overseen by the Indian Supreme Court in 1989. From 1989 to 1991, there was a two- year period where that settlement could be challenged. The folks at Bhopal who felt they were impacted had a voice in the game in that period.

In 1991, the Supreme Court upheld the settlement as fair and just. In 1994, Carbide paid the money. In 1994, Union Carbide sold its interest in Union Carbide India Limited so Carbide never completely owned the facility. They were an investor in UCIL as directed by the India government. They sold their interest, they exited India in 1994. Dow purchases Union Carbide in 2001.

So Carbide did its part, paid what was fair and just, and exited. The Indian government who owned the site, they owned the land, they leased the land to UCIL, they then retook over that plant site in 1998 with the intention of cleaning up the site.

Here we are 27 years later, and folks want to bring Dow into this who was never there, who didn’t own it, didn’t operate it, didn’t buy any of the liabilities of Union Carbide who had paid their issues and left the country – trying to paint Dow with being associated with Bhopal.

It’s misinformed, misguided and misdirected.

ATR: Trying to get your side of the story across and explaining Dow’s situation is one way to settle this, but in the U.K. with the way speech is freely expressed, it’s very likely this issue will be raised again and again in the lead-up to the Games.

GH: The issue has been around for 27 years, and again I’m not trying to minimize what happened, or that people and families weren’t impacted – I get it. What I don’t get is how people will continue or have continued to try and tie this to Dow. This may make its way through London, may make its way to Russia, Brazil but it’s a very different culture in those two countries. Who knows how long the issue could go on?

Even if you look at what the Indian Olympic Association calls for once they thought enough about what they thought this was about, they went from protesting one minute, to boycotting the next, then they wanted money so we got to a point where we were like "what do you want?"

So that’s the experience that we’ve had. The request that in some form Dow should do something for Bhopal then makes a connection that’s not in the best interest of Dow or our stakeholders.

ATR: Is there any other way you can communicate with the Indian Olympic Association as fellow members of the Olympic family and not get involved in the settlement – just have a dialogue?

GH: We talk to many members across the Olympic family every day – we are in constant contact with the IOC and LOCOG. We’re in constant contact with my peers at the top, so I have no problem with talking to Olympic associations.

I have a great relationship with many NOCs around the world, so we have no problem with talking to the Indian Olympic Association, but it’s interesting that the IOA also has a relationship with the IOC – even after the highest level of the IOC – President Jacques Rogge – states that they have reviewed Dow corporately, done their due diligence and have determined that Dow is a great partner and Dow has no connection to Bhopal, we continue to get these interesting comments coming from the IOA.

ATR: In terms of hospitality, bringing guests and customers to London, have you figured all that out yet?

GH: If you go back to every Games since Lake Placid 1980, Dow has had an involvement in making every Games better. I think it’s that process as well as our hospitality program that started at Atlanta 1996 that gave us a good insight into the Olympics and helped get us to the decision to become a TOP partner. It also helped the Olympic family get to know Dow and who we are and that our values are very consistent with the Olympic values.

We, like all the other sponsors, will have a reasonably sized program in London that will be more heavily attended by guests from the Middle East, Africa and Europe because of the travel and association with Europe. We’ll have heavy participation from our customers and our employees.

ATR: What about Sochi? In the midst of all this, you’re looking ahead to the next Games.

GH: I have spent more time in Russia than I have spent in London. I’ve spent more time in Brazil than in London. Why is that? Because if you look at where Dow can have the most impact on the Games, it happens three years or four years before the Games are delivered.

We’re business-to-business and not business-to-client, so my ability to get involved in, to influence the infrastructure, the design, the specifications, to help them think about the sustainability, what’s the footprint after the Games are gone, how that will fit into a sustainable legacy, what’s happening now, so that’s where we are now.

From a business standpoint, our objectives are three-fold.

First, we want to deliver a billion dollars of revenue from the sponsorship.

Second, it’s about awareness and reputation, which goes hand-in-hand with driving revenue and is especially important in growth countries like Russia and Brazil.

Third is employee engagement – how do we use the sponsorship to help motivate and excite our employees about being a member of Dow?

So that’s how we’re using the sponsorship, and so with the business element of this, it’s very important for me now to the point that I will be spending most of my time in Russia and Brazil and have already started to connect with PyeongChang.

Interview conducted in London by Ed Hula.

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