Line between celebratory events and ambush marketing far from clear

THE International Olympic Committee (IOC) has reportedly taken issue with certain activities to celebrate Singapore's first ever Olympic gold medal by Joseph Schooling for possible ambush marketing. The activities to mark that historic milestone ranged from offers of discounted meals by restaurants and promotional taxi rides to congratulatory advertisements and victory parades.

In its Brand Protection Guidelines for the Rio 2016 Olympics, the Games' Organising Committee reminds advertisers that certain logos (such as the Olympic five-ringed symbol), words (such as "Rio 2016"), phrases (for example "Spirit in motion"), symbols (for example the Olympic flame) and graphic elements (such as the look of the Games and pictograms of each sport) are the IOC's intellectual property (IP), and that only the organisers and official partners can use such IP for commercial purposes.

Rule 40 Bye-law 3 prohibits competitors, coaches, trainers and officials, from allowing their person, name, picture or sports performances to be used for advertising purposes during the period from July 27 to Aug 24, 2016. Athletes can face withdrawal of accreditation, disqualification or forfeiture of medals, for breaches. The implementation of this rule is primarily the responsibility of each country's National Olympic Committee (NOC) - hence the IOC's letter to the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC).