For the second straight Games, non-sponsoring brands can seek pre-approval for USOC waiversTWITTER
The Olympics’ controversial “blackout period” starts today, meaning that athletes promoting brands without official Olympic rights or a USOC waiver from now through Feb. 28 risk disqualification from the Pyeongchang Games. For the second straight Games, the IOC and the USOC have allowed non-sponsoring brands the chance to seek pre-approval for waivers, as long as they steer clear of a broad list of Olympic intellectual property such as the name of the host city, “Gold Medal” and certain social media hashtags. To qualify, their campaigns had to be “in market” by Oct. 1, but it is not yet clear which companies received a waiver because that rule could have been satisfied by an under-the-radar rollout. Under Armour is one of the few companies that have publicly said it intends to use Olympians in advertisements during the Olympics (Nike is the official apparel sponsor to the USOC). Bose and Rockin’ Refuel have as well. Other official sponsors will be watching closely to see whether their competitors are taking advantage. The USOC has not made any changes to the waiver system since its launch in '16 for the Rio Games. Unlike in '16, the new system has garnered relatively little attention. Waiver requests were down by two-thirds compared to the much larger Summer cycle, USOC CMO Lisa Baird said in August. “The factions that would challenge it and make news, they’ve sort of let it be,” said John Grady, a professor at the Univ. of South Carolina who tracks the issue. “There isn’t the athlete dissatisfaction, there isn’t pushback from official sponsors, so unless it’s happening behind the scenes. Everyone’s who’s complaining about it has just sort of stopped and let it be.”
