Play by the Olympic rules at your pub

The anticipated British gold rush promises increased footfall (provided that the British ‘summer’ does not cause a wash-out), which operators will naturally want to capitalise on by advertising games coverage in their premises.

However, there has been growing uncertainty, heightened by press reports on crackdowns by the London 2012 brand police, as to what advertising can be carried out in the face of marketing laws that protect the exclusive rights of the official sponsors of the Games. What is the truth about what pubs can do to advertise the Olympics? Our friends at Charles Russell, specialists on compliance with Olympic marketing laws, have worked with us to provide a guide (see below) to help you.

The issues that have emerged and should be of concern for publicans are (a) the use of Olympic symbols and logos and (b) the promotion of screenings of the games in premises.

The first area — the use of Olympic symbols — is straightforward: unless proprietors have a very good and justifiable reason to do so, avoid adorning premises or advertising with Olympic symbols and logos. These are protected trademarks, owned by the Olympic movement.

The second area is the one that troubles businesses and lawyers attempting to interpret the rules, alike. Businesses that do not sponsor the games cannot use marketing materials that suggest an association between them and London 2012 — a simple example being that Carling, as a non-sponsor, should not be referencing the Olympics in its adverts so as to detract from Heineken’s valuable partnership with London 2012.
Of course, applying this to the operational reality for pubs is not that simple. Just by screening the 100m final, for example, customers will unavoidably associate the premises where they watched the race with London 2012 through no fault of the operator.

In an attempt to clear up the uncertainty, LOCOG — the games’ organising committee — has issued guidance relating to what licensees are and are not able to do in relation to advertising screenings of Olympic events. Taking this guidance, and applying a dose of common sense based on what the law actually says, we have come up with the following dos and don’ts:

While the list of don’ts is long, our advice is not to be afraid of advertising so long as one key principle is followed: use simple statements of fact of what is being shown without additional, unnecessary branding (other than as required to describe the premises where the event is being shown).

These laws have to be read in light of the commercial reality that it would be a potential PR disaster for LOCOG to pick a fight with pubs for encouraging the public to watch the games, unless there is a clear infringement. Larger chains and operators should, however, be wary, as they represent more obvious targets.

Olympic dos and don’ts​

The dos​

• Use the official posters published by LOCOG (available at http://www.london2012.com/about-us/our-brand/watch-the-games-here-poster/), but not if the premises is a restaurant, part of a branded chain/franchise and not in conjunction with other commercial logos (eg beer brands served in the pub). Why chains cannot use the posters, we do not know (is LOCOG’s suggestion that they cannot advertise at all?), but this is the rule.
• Use simple factual statements, for example: “Watch the Olympic Games here” or “Live coverage of the 2012 Games inside”, informing potential customers that the games will be shown (see examples below from LOCOG’s guidance).
  Unlikely to infringe:​ An unbranded chalk board outside a pub during the period of the games. Will infringe:​ Posters that are branded by breweries

• Premises near Olympic venues can advertise in the normal way, but should check whether they are in advertising ‘clean zones’ on london2012.com restricting certain types of advertising (particularly that located outside the premises).
• Ensure the premises has all necessary licences to screen the games.

The don’ts​

• Don’t use Olympic/London 2012 symbols or logos in advertising, for example, don’t hand out flyers or other advertising material near Olympic venues (in ‘clean zones’), while events are taking place.
• Pubs should avoid including the logos of drink and food (or any other) brands on boards/posters advertising games screenings.
• Don’t use the official LOCOG posters if the premises is part of a chain or franchise, or a restaurant.
• Don’t attempt to suggest an official endorsement of the pub/chain with London 2012. Marketing speak that, for example, states that a chain is “The London 2012 pub viewing venue” or “A supporter of the Games” will fall foul of the laws.
• Don’t use pictures of athletes or teams in advertising, unless they have given their permission and are relevant to the promotion.