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Will Google #DumpTrump at the Republican National Convention?

To ramp up pressure on Google to drop live-streaming Donald Trump at the convention, activists hired a plane to fly a banner across Bay Area skies that reads, “Google: Don’t be evil #DumpTrump.”

(TNS) -- It’s not just the Republican Party that’s struggling to navigate its relationship with real estate mogul and presidential candidate Donald Trump. Google is, too.

On Thursday, a representative of the Silicon Valley giant quietly accepted an online petition signed by more than 400,000 people asking the company not to have any role in the GOP convention in Cleveland. Petitioners don’t want Trump to have a national stage for his divisive politics.

To ramp up pressure on Google, the activists hired a plane to fly a banner across Bay Area skies, reading, “Google: Don’t be evil #DumpTrump.”

Representatives for Google — which is planning to live-stream the convention — did not respond to the request, according to the small group that hand-delivered the appeal at the company’s Mountain View campus. Google also declined to respond to phone calls or emails from The Chronicle on the subject Thursday.

But the company and a handful of others petitioned by the civil rights group ColorOfChange appear to be weighing their involvement.

“The protesters have done at least one thing: They’re creating fear and making corporations think twice,” said Subodh Bhat, a professor of marketing at San Francisco State University who specializes in controversial advertising and branding.

However, Bhat said, the companies’ examination of the issue doesn’t necessarily mean they should or will change course.

“I don’t think companies can boycott something as important as the convention of one of the two big parties in the U.S,” Bhat said. “Most people will be seeing this as supporting the Republican convention, not Trump.”

ColorOfChange, which has been joined by several activist groups representing women and minorities, has since February been pressuring such corporations as Google, Microsoft, Walmart and Coca-Cola to refrain from sponsoring the convention.

Companies have participated in the nominating events, both Republican and Democratic, for decades. Some businesses provide technological assistance, while others pay to publicize their brand. Google live-streamed both the Republican and Democratic conventions in 2012.

But Trump’s status as the Republican front-runner this year has upset activists.

“We think it’s really important that major brands like Google don’t align with Trump’s racism, xenophobia and misogyny,” said Heidi Hess of the group CREDO Action, who helped deliver the petition Thursday.

Microsoft and Walmart, like Google, did not respond Thursday to inquiries about the convention. Coca-Cola said in an emailed statement, “Our support helps the host committees run these large events and contributes to local economic development but does not represent an endorsement of any specific party or candidate.”

According to ColorOfChange organizer Arisha Hatch, Coca-Cola capped its funding this year after hearing from the group — though the company did not attribute its action to the group. Coca-Cola has given $75,000 to the 2016 convention, much less than it gave in 2012.

“We believe that Coke will not be the last” to cut spending, Hatch said.

Thursday’s actions were timed with the state GOP convention, which begins Friday in Burlingame. Trump is expected to deliver a speech at noon at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport. Candidates Ted Cruz and John Kasich are also scheduled to speak over the weekend.

©2016 the San Francisco Chronicle Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.