To Some Companies the Olympics Means Its Ambush Marketing Time

It?s that time again. Time for stories of how companies, that have been frozen out of promotions during the Olympic Games, still try to get their message out. The issue rests with the International Olympic Committee?s strict rules preventing participants from promoting products that are not approved (i.e., not official Olympic sponsors).

For instance, this rule prevents athletes from wearing clothing with the logo of companies that are not sponsors, even if the athlete has a contract with that company. Athletes may even face expulsion from the games if they even mention a non-sponsor on Twitter.

This issue has been around for most of the Olympic games since 2000 and is also an issue at other major sporting events. To get around this rule, some marketers have tried so-called ?ambush marketing? techniques designed to evade notice or use loopholes in the promotion rule. To see what is happening with the 2016 Olympics, check out this story from the New York Times.

Image by Si B