IPA lobbies for looser London Olympics advertising

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) is lobbying the Government about the Olympics bill, which it claims could prevent companies from benefiting from the 2012 Olympic Games.

The Olympics Bill rules on the use of Games-related words and images by non-official advertisers. It was drawn up by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) as a legal framework for London to stage the Games and to safeguard the investment of official sponsors.

A London 2012 spokesman said: “There is absolutely no intention of stopping London businesses from becoming involved in the Games, quite the reverse”.

The bill includes laws to stop a company associating itself with an event without being an official sponsor. Companies can sponsor the Games through the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Partner Program, or through domestic deals with the London Organising Committee.

The use of “Olympic marks”, such as the Olympic rings is already restricted to official sponsors by existing legislation, but the new bill will make it illegal to combine words like “games”, “medals”, “gold”, “2012″, “sponsor” or “summer” in any form of advertising.

The IPA says this will prevent businesses benefiting in any way from the event. IPA’S legal director, Marina Palomba said: “You won’t even be able to say ‘come to London in 2012′ because it will infringe the act”.

The IOC argues that the legislation is required to safeguard the investment of official sponsors.

The DCMS said speculation on what the new rules will allow was premature. Businesses will receive two years’ notice before the laws are brought in.