Olympic Games: the strict Olympic policy to protect official sponsors

The Olympic Games, An event with global impact, they are a perfect opportunity to reach everyone, but you should be careful with the strict rules that protect your brand image, mascot included, or official sponsors, the only ones who can take advantage of it to advertise.

In slang, we talk about “Olympic properties” to refer to image elements legally protected regarding their use: the rings, the badge, the flag, the terms “Olympic” or “Olympians”…

Added to this are the own Paris-2024, such as the mascot, the torch or the official poster. All of this is protected to be used and exploited only by those responsible or official sponsors.

“There is extremely strong control of the Committee [Olímpico Internacional] about what companies can do,” Vanessa Bouchara, a lawyer specializing in intellectual property, explains to AFP.

“The judicial court of Paris has provided availability to take into account the various breaches that may occur during the Olympic Games,” he adds.

In February, the Sporsora associationwhich brings together sports actors, already reported that “1,500 products were withdrawn or destroyed” and that “more than 650 letters of request and reminder of rights” have been sent since 2019.

Several years ago, the sports brand Le Coq Sportif, which currently manufactures the equipment of the French national teams, was condemned for some shoes that read “the Olympic dream.”

Legal persecution

They are also various unauthorized uses susceptible to legal prosecution such as Olympic rings made from macaroni (a typical French sweet) or the presence of these rings in the packaging of condoms, as the general director of the French Olympic Committee, Skander Karaa, recently detailed during a colloquium.

“The ‘clean venue’ principle governs [lugar limpio]all marks must be erased,” explains Bruno Bianzina, general director of the Sport Market agency.

“Without an authorization that may be granted on an exceptional basis by the IOC Executive Board, no form of advertisement or other publicity is permitted in or on stadiums, venues and competition venues that are considered part of the Olympic venues.” , can be read in the IOC Charter.

There are possible exceptions. This is the case of Omega, for example, which is in charge of timing and is a collaborator of the IOC. Its brand is visible in the Olympic stadiums.

In the Paris Games, The French luxury giant LVMH, which is a rank 1 sponsor, will be “associated with the flame route”, but the mystery remains as to whether or not it can be present at the opening ceremony of the Games, which in a novel way will have place in the center of the French capital next to the Seine River.

“It would be a novelty for the Olympic Games,” emphasizes Bruno Bianzina. There is a hierarchy among sponsors, not everyone has the same rights.

Repeals

The 2023 Olympic law introduces derogations for the placement of promotional and advertising messages. Some spaces that are normally prohibited from such use, such as historical monuments, will be able to hang advertisements starting from 30 days before the opening ceremony (June 26) and up to 15 days after the closing of the Paralympics.

For all who are not official sponsors, sIt will be very complicated. “You have to be very careful never to pretend that you are an official sponsor and not seek to benefit from Olympic notoriety,” explains Vanessa Bouchara.

“Unauthorized actors or unauthorized companies do not have the right to communicate in a way that could be considered unfair or parasitic,” summarizes the lawyer.

Communication between athletes’ sponsors and the athletes themselves is also highly regulated.

It was softened after the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, since a company that sponsors an athlete could not even be mentioned.

“When photo sessions are done with athletes, we remove the watches, we eliminate third-party brands,” says Bruno Bianzina.

ANDThe IOC and the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee “have very effective social media surveillance tools,” Add.

Specifically, these rules apply from the opening of the Olympic Village on July 18 and until August 13. A brand cannot “explicitly or implicitly indicate that a particular product or service has contributed to improving the participant’s performance,” for example, and can only congratulate its athlete once during the Olympic Games, without the brand’s image being published.