Olympic sponsors walking a tight-rope

Thanks to the anonymous poster who commented that a boycott of Olympic sponsors would help put pressure on China to improve human rights.
Interesting thought, but an article in AdAgeChina suggest it might be futile because sponsors will prioritise developing the Chinese market over upsetting activists in the West:
"Inside the mainland, nationalism is running high and multinationals need China's growing economy to offset a looming U.S. recession."
Still, companies are amoral and pressure can work. But the lure of 1.3 billion potential customers might prove too much to sway the likes of Coke and McDonald's who have been meeting with activist groups but playing it safe when it comes to passing on protesters' concerns to Beijing.
Bare in mind that sponsors have forked out millions to be associated with the Games, so they want to be seen to appease human rights protesters without unduly upsetting the hosts or, worse still, tarnishing the Olympics.