AMBUSH MARKETING - THE UNDESERVED ADVANTAGE

The Olympic Games, as the world's largest and most prestigious sports event, has been a major target for ambush marketing activity. The posi tion of the International Olympic Committee is that the practice of am bush marketing represents a deliberate attempt to mislead consumers in to believing that the companies involved are supporters of the Olympic Games. The opposite is in fact the case. The activities of ambushers erode the integrity of major events and may potentially lessen the ben efits to official sponsors, who are the real supporters of such events . Ambush marketing breaches one of the fundamental tenets of business activity, namely, truth in advertising and business communications. Th e IOC, as custodian of the Olympic Games, successfully adopts a twofol d strategy of protection and prevention to counter the threat of ambus h marketing. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.