DELTA SURGES

DELTA GOES WILD! L.A. COUNTY CORONAVIRUS SPIKE HITS ALARMING LEVELS, WITH 10,000 INFECTED IN A WEEK, AS DELTA VARIANT SPREADS →

X X X

FEELING LIKE 2020 ALL OVER AGAIN: DOW DROPS 800 POINTS MONDAY MORNING ON COVID SPIKE FEARS

MORE...



TOYOTA PULLS ADS FROM THE 2021 OLYMPICS
PR DOESN’T LIKE BAD PRESS!

FROM THE AP:

Toyota won’t be airing any Olympic-themed advertisements on Japanese television during the Tokyo Games despite being one of the IOC’s top corporate sponsors.

The extraordinary decision by the country’s top automaker underlines how polarizing the Games have become in Japan as COVID-19 infections rise ahead of Friday’s opening ceremony.

“There are many issues with these Games that are proving difficult to be understood,” Toyota Chief Communications Officer Jun Nagata told reporters Monday.

Chief Executive Akio Toyoda, the company founder’s grandson, will be skipping the opening ceremony. That’s despite about 200 athletes taking part in the Olympics and Paralympics who are affiliated with Toyota, including swimmer Takeshi Kawamoto and softball player Miu Goto.

Nagata said the company will continue to support its athletes.

Being a corporate sponsor for the Olympics is usually all about using the games as a platform to enhance the brand. But being linked with a pandemic-era Games may be viewed by some as a potential marketing problem.

X X X 

As England prepares to lift Covid-19 restrictions, Boris Johnson goes into self-isolation

MORE..

As England pushes ahead with a controversial decision to lift its remaining coronavirus restrictions on Monday – dubbed “Freedom Day” by the UK press – Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Chancellor of the Exchequer are self-isolating after meeting with Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who has since tested positive for Covid-19. “Please, please, please, be cautious,” Johnson said in a video from isolation on Sunday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and finance minister Rishi Sunak will be working remotely in the week ahead after they came into contact with a person infected with Covid, Downing Street said.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid confirmed on Saturday he had tested positive for Covid-19 and was now self-isolating for 10 days.

He had a “lengthy” meeting with Johnson on Friday, according to the Sunday Times. The prime minister nearly died of Covid last year…

DEVELOPING..