Claim:
Craft supply retail company Hobby Lobby pulled $50 million in ads from the 2024 Paris Olympics, ending its 20-year sponsorship of the Games.
Rating:
Labeled Satire ( About this rating? )
On July 30, 2024, the Facebook account America's Last Line of Defense posted a meme claiming that craft supply retail chain Hobby Lobby had pulled $50 million in ads from the 2024 Paris Olympics, ending the company's 20-year sponsorship of the Games. The caption of the post read:
Hobby Lobby was one of the largest US sponsors of the games.
"We've been a worldwide partner for more than twenty years. It's sad it has to end like this."
Hopefully more advertisers show them the door.
The text in the meme read: "Hobby Lobby Pulls $50 Million in Ads from the Olympics: 'We Can't Continue Supporting Anti-Christian Culture.'"
The meme featured a screen capture of the controversial opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, which some people online claimed mocked Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" painting.
(Facebook account America's Last Line of Defense)
Many comments on the post appeared to interpret the claim as a factual recounting of real-life events. For example, one commenter wrote: "Love this store and so happy they stand up for Christian values! Need more businesses to do this!"
The claim also spread outside of Facebook, appearing in posts on X and Threads .
However, there was no evidence that Hobby Lobby had pulled $50 million in ads from the 2024 Olympics. A Google search for the quote attributed to Hobby Lobby in the ALLOD post's caption returned no results, other than the post itself. The same was true for a Google search for the quote included in the meme.
There was also no evidence that Hobby Lobby has ever been an official Olympic sponsor. The company was not included on official lists of Olympic sponsors either for the 2024 Paris Games or in the marketing reports for previous games. It also was not listed as an official sponsor by Team USA, the official website of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, including on an archived version the Team USA website from July 24, 2024, a week before ALLOD posted the claim.
A Google search for the terms "Hobby Lobby" and "Olympic sponsor" likewise returned no evidence that the company has ever been an official sponsor of the Olympic Games or the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee .
Rather, the rumor about Hobby Lobby ending its 20-year sponsorship of the Olympic Games originated from ALLOD — a network of social media accounts and websites that describe their output as satirical in nature. Its Facebook page's Info section stated: "Nothing on this page is real." The meme shared in the post also included a "Satire" badge in the bottom left corner.
ALLOD and its associated accounts have a history of making up stories for shares and comments.
Snopes has previously addressed similar satirical claims about companies including The Home Depot and Samsung allegedly ending their sponsorships of the Olympic Games following the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.
Sources:
Eifert, Sean. "Home Depot Ended 30-Year Sponsorship of Olympics After 2024 Opening Ceremony?" Snopes, 31 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/home-depot-sponsor-olympics/ .
Izzo, Jack. "Olympic Opening Ceremony Featured Da Vinci's 'Last Supper'?" Snopes, 30 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//news/2024/07/30/olympics-last-supper/ .
Lee, Jessica. "Why Snopes Covers Satire and Parody." Snopes, 26 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//notes/snopes-satire-parody/ .
Liles, Jordan. "Samsung Withdrew $1B Sponsorship from Paris Olympics Due to 'Woke Agenda'?" Snopes, 30 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/samsung-billion-sponsorship-olympics/ .
Olympic Partner Programme. https://olympics.com/ioc/partners . Accessed 8 Aug. 2024.
Partners of the Organization Committee of Paris 2024. https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/committee/games-stakeholder/partners . Accessed 8 Aug. 2024.
Sponsors. https://www.teamusa.com/sponsors . Accessed 8 Aug. 2024.
Team USA | Sponsors. 24 July 2024, https://web.archive.org/web/20240724063045/https://www.teamusa.com/sponsors.
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