Cautionary Tales For Olympic Advertisers

In the build up to the Sochi Olympic Games, it is not just the security cordon that is on full alert.  The Canadian Olympic Committee is aggressively pursuing any unauthorized use of its trade-marks in advertising and on products by businesses hoping to trade on the Olympic buzz.  This would include SOCHI and SOCHI 2014 and a host of other brands, both words and logos, that suggest an association with the Games, such as:

Ambush marketing or, as the COC sees it, taking an Olympic position in your advertising without paying for it, will not be tolerated.

A Canadian retailer recently launched a line of clothing bearing the date of the opening ceremonies and promoted materials that included Olympic trade-marks.  Those marks were removed, but the COC is insisting that the entire line of clothing be pulled from shelves.  This response is nothing new – brands were forced to remove clothing with Olympic references on them during London 2012 as well – but the COC has