New Deadline Approaching For Non-Olympic Sponsors Using Rio Athletes In Ad Campaigns

The Rio Games are "still more than five months away," but new sponsorship regulations "mean advertisers could soon be rushing Olympic ads into market," according to Schultz & Stein of AD AGE. The USOC last summer "announced a rule change that allows non-Olympic sponsors to run ads starring Olympic athletes." But to qualify, non-sponsors "must run their marketing 'continuously starting no later than March 27.'" As a result, ads starring Olympians "could hit the market soon, well before the Olympic marketing season typically begins." Previously, rules "barred non-sponsors from running ads featuring Olympic athletes during a blackout period that lasted from several days before the opening ceremonies to a few days after the games ended." But non-sponsors now "can request Rule 40 waivers from the USOC allowing them to run ads during the blackout period." Sponsors "still have certain advantages, like the ability to use trademarked Olympic phrases and imagery." The rules state that ads from non-sponsors cannot have phrases "such as 'Rio/Rio de Janeiro,' 'Gold,' 'Games' and 'Victory.'" Under Armour in late February "launched a new global campaign featuring members of the U.S. women's gymnastics team." The brand "plans to run the campaign during the Olympics." While UA Senior VP/Global Brand Marketing Adrienne Lofton said that the brand "would have released the campaign in February regardless of the new rule, 'the expansion of Rule 40 just helped us tell the story longer.'" PowerBar, another non-sponsor, also is "planning to run ads during the games." The brand "has relationships with a few Olympic athletes, including men's marathon runner Meb Keflezighi and women's marathon runner Desiree Linden" (ADAGE.com, 3/2).