Activists try to hijack promotions by Sochi Olympics sponsors

American companies bet on advertising gold for the upcoming Winter Olympics, but anti-gay sentiment in the host country of Russia has companies seeing red from activists.

During the past week, McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MDC), Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) and other big advertisers have had to fend off gay rights activists who have hijacked their Olympic promotions on social media, the New York Times reports.

When McDonald's introduced the hashtag #CheersToSochi, activists began using the phrase in protest.

“Hey, @McDonalds: You’re sending #CheersToSochi while goons wearing Olympic uniforms assault LGBT people,” read one comment last week, from the author and activist Dan Savage, the NYT reports.

Coca-Cola planned to allow fans the ability to create their own Coke can online with inspirational messages for athletes. Instead, NYT reports activists created cans bearing words and phrases like “Haters,” “Blood-Money,” “LetsAllBeGay” and “HelpLGBTInRu."

The promotion has since been pulled from the website.

Read more from the New York Times.