Riding For The Brand

Hundreds of uniformed Olympics officers began touring England Monday enforcing sponsors' multi-million-pound marketing deals, in "a highly organised mission," according to Martin Hickman of the London INDEPENDENT. Almost 300 enforcement officers will be seen across the country checking firms to ensure they "are not staging ambush marketing or illegally associating themselves with the Games" at the expense of official sponsors such as adidas, McDonald's, Coca-Cola and BP. Wearing purple caps and tops, the experts in trading and advertising working for the Olympic Delivery Authority "are heading the biggest brand protection operation staged" in the U.K.