Olympic Athletes Should Be Careful When They Speak For Enterprises.

Signing sports stars as spokesmen of corporate image has become a widely used marketing tool.

The near future Beijing Olympic Games is bound to trigger a new round of sports celebrity endorsement fever.

However, both the enterprises with the intention and the "quasi" Olympic athletes who are likely to be caught up in the business need to be careful, because a little carelessness may violate the forbidden zone of Olympic marketing.

"During the Olympic Games, athletes are not allowed to advertise for non Olympic sponsorship companies."

In June this year, at the Olympic Games of intellectual property rights protection and anti recessive market press conference held by the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee, Chen Feng, Vice Minister of the market development department of the Olympic Organizing Committee, was like a stone stirred up waves.

Some people who do not understand the protection of Olympic intellectual property rights have questioned: which athletes should choose to advertise for their individual freedom? How can the Olympic Committee interfere with the athletes' private affairs?

It is not true.

In an interview, Chen Feng explained the reasons one by one.

"Restricting the use of the image of the Olympic athletes in advertising is out of the consideration of guarding against the hidden market," Chen Feng said. The implicit market refers to the unauthorized relationship between the commercial organization and the Olympic Games, which makes the public mistaken for the sponsorship or support relationship between the business organization and the Olympic Games.

International Olympic Committee has a set of policies and regulations for anti recessive market.

The third paragraph of the Olympic Charter forty-first article clearly stipulates that without the approval of the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee, any athletes, coaches and team officials who participate in the Olympic Games may not use their own image, name or action to do advertising or other promotional activities during the Olympic Games.

Chen Feng said that the image of athletes can be divided into two categories: one is the image related to the Olympic Games, such as the Olympic medals on the chest or the Olympic Games in the Olympic venues with five ring signs. This kind of image is not allowed to be used in advertisements of non Olympic sponsorship enterprises, either in peacetime or during the Olympic Games, otherwise it will produce a hidden market; the other is a common image not related to the Olympic Games, which can advertise for any enterprise at ordinary times, belonging to the category of individual freedom of athletes.

From the previous Olympic Games, International Olympic Committee usually released the advertising behavior of the two types of enterprises during the Olympic Games.

One is the commercial advertisements sponsored by the Olympic sponsoring enterprises; the other is the pure congratulations propaganda carried out by the Olympic sponsorship enterprises or the world sporting goods industry federation members.

However, International Olympic Committee has strict restrictions on these two kinds of advertisements.

First, the enterprise must obtain the consent of the athletes themselves and the National Olympic committees. Secondly, the approval of the national (regional) Olympic Committee must be obtained; third, the contents of advertising should not be related to the performance of athletes in the Olympic Games.

What is the content of advertising and advertising related to athletes' performance in Olympic Games?

"For example, when an athlete takes the Olympic gold medal, you say," it's not possible to wear my shoes or eat the food I produce, "explains Chen Feng.

How do we celebrate sexual propaganda?

Chen Feng, for instance, won the gold medal in the Olympic Games by the athletes who spoke for the members of the Federation of the world sporting goods industry. The company congratulated the athlete, but congratulated him only.

What is the feasibility of implementing these provisions?

Suppose that an athlete from an African country took part in the Olympic Games to advertise for a sponsor of a Beijing Olympic Games and broadcast or publish it in the local small TV station or in a small newspaper during the Olympic Games. What can Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee find?

How will this infringement be dealt with after discovery?

"These problems concern the territorial jurisdiction principle of the Olympic market development," Chen Feng said. According to the regulations of the International Olympic Committee, the market development of the Olympic Games is divided into districts. Each country (region) Olympic Committee is only responsible for managing the Olympic market development in its own jurisdiction.

Judging whether an enterprise allows the Olympic athletes to infringing their advertising advertisements, the key is to see where the advertisement is put and whether the enterprise is the official sponsor of the local Olympic Committee.

If not, it infringes on the rights and interests of the local Olympic Committee and naturally belongs to the local Olympic Committee.

Before the meeting, the Chinese Olympic Committee signed a joint market development agreement with the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee.

According to the regulations of the International Olympic Committee, if a country has the right to host the Olympic Games, the agreement will take effect from the date of successful bid, until December 31, 2008.

This means that the Chinese Olympic Committee has handed over the Olympic market development power in its jurisdiction to the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee, which is now fully responsible by the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee.