Olympic "Ambush" Marketing: Fair or Foul?

Today's Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese sportswear company Li Ning, which is not an Olympic sponsor but which has an exclusive contract to outfit sportscasters of China's CCTV (broadcaster of the Olympics in China), withdrew a provision in its agreement that would have seen the company's logo -- a stylized "L" -- prominently displayed on apparel worn by sportcasters during studio broadcasts. Olympic officials jealously guard the intellectual property rights of official sponsors and publicly scorn companies that seek to benefit by implying a relationship to the Olympics, a tactic known as ambush marketing. With worldwide Olympic sponsorships approaching $100 million for the next four-year period, however, it is no surprise that some companies that are unwilling or unable to fork over the price of admission still try to piggyback on the marketing juggernaut that is the Olympic Games. So the question is whether these so-called ambushers are ethically challenged or simply entrepreneurial in their outlook.

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