The London Olympics bill was announced in the Queen's speech in
May, setting up the Olympic Delivery Authority which would
co-ordinate and ensure the delivery of the venues and
infrastructure necessary to host the Games and grant the Mayor of
London Olympic specific powers to enable the Greater London
Authority to prepare for and stage the Games.
According to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, which
is preparing the bill, it would also "meet the requirements of the
International Olympic Committee to effectively reduce ambush
marketing, eliminate street vending and control advertising during
Games time."
Ambush marketing generally occurs when one brand pays to sponsor
an event and a rival brand attempts to associate itself with the
event without being an official sponsor and this is usually done
without breaking any laws.
Brandchannel.com gives examples of successful campaigns.
At the 1984 Olympics, Fuji was an official sponsor – so Kodak
sponsored the TV broadcasts of the Games and the US track team. And
at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, official sponsors including Reebok
paid $700 million. When the US basketball team won gold, Nike
sponsored the press conference and when Michael Jordan accepted his
gold, he covered up the Reebok logo on his kit.
London's Evening Standard reports that the Institute of
Practitioners in Advertising has written to the Department of
Culture, Media and Sport, calling for it to rethink the proposed
change to UK law that it describes as "a step too far."
This is not the first time that law has been changed to prevent
ambush marketing. The newspaper recounts the 2003 World Cup in
South Africa. The official sponsor was Pepsi and the Government
changed the trade mark and marketing laws of the country with the
effect that spectators drinking Coca-Cola were ejected from the
venues.
UPDATE, 15/07/2005: The bill was published
today and is available at the link below.
