Beijing promised on Tuesday to fight ambush advertising during the Olympic Games that threaten official sponsors, saying organised groups of spectators wearing competing brand logos would not be allowed.
McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and other sponsors paid tens of millions of dollars to link their names with the Beijing Olympics.
So-called ”ambush” marketers try to use the publicity surrounding the Games to promote their products without paying for the right.
”Some businesses are intentionally violating the rules or intentionally committing ambush marketing without paying any money to sponsor the Olympic Games,” said Chen Feng, deputy director of the marketing department for the Beijing organisers.
From July 11, all prominent advertising space in Beijing, including at the airport and on subway lines, will be controlled, giving official sponsors priority.
Companies will be monitored for illegal advertising and ”serious action” will be taken against violators, Chen told a news conference.
Companies that use Olympic symbols without authorisation could be fined or referred to higher authorities, he said without giving details.
Already on the Olympic torch relay through China, there have been ”serious” violations by non-sponsors using the image of the torch in their advertising, Chen said. Coca-Cola, Lenovo Group and Samsung Electronics paid to sponsor the relay.
But most violators were small- and medium-sized companies trying to show their enthusiasm for the games, said Chris Renner, president for China of sports marketing consulting firm Helios Partners. Helios’s clients include sponsors Volkswagen AG, computer maker Lenovo Group and Samsung Electronics, among others.
Renner said he saw only two surprising incidents of consumer electronic companies that were not sponsors advertising during the Olympic torch relay in China.
”I don’t think it’s the ambush festival that some have feared and some had expected,” he said.
Chen said spectators will also be watched for possible unauthorised advertising.
”If anybody wears the same sports clothes and wears it all the time, and wears it whenever they get in front of the camera, then it is suspicious,” he said. ”We will then talk with them and try to stop it.”
Athletes coming to Beijing are also not allowed to lend their image without authorisation to commercial advertising, Chen said.
The Olympics are expected to be a unique opportunity for companies to raise their profile and market share in China.
Sponsor payments and other marketing revenues are expected to cover the Games’ operating costs of about $2,1-billion — a figure that does not include spending on venues and public facilities. — Sapa-AP