The cases when companies illegally use Olympic symbolics have become more frequent after Sochi was called the host-city for 2014 Winter Olympics.
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
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Olympic Movement Put Into Motion
The cases when companies illegally use Olympic symbolics have become more frequent after Sochi was endorsed as the host-city for 2014 Winter Olympics. The Sochi Olympic Committee has recorded more than 150 of them since the start of this year. Abrau-Durso winery, the Bank of Moscow and Blackwood realtor agency are amid the law breakers.
“None but official partners, sponsors, suppliers and those that signed a license contract with the Organization Committee of the Olympics may use the Sochi 2014 symbolics,” explained a spokesman of Sochi Olympic Committee. “These contracts will be concluded after January 1, 2009 and any use of symbolics is illegal until that time.”
According to Sochi 2014 Organization Committee, such words as Olympic, Olympian, Olympiad, Sochi 2014 (and their Cyrillic equivalents) as well as their derivatives and/or word combinations won’t be used in the names of goods and services or for their promotion. Using images of Olympic rings, torch, flags and other Olympics symbolics is prohibited as well.
More than 150 cases of illegal use of Olympic symbolics have been registered since February 4, when the Complex Program for Protection of Olympics and Paralympics Symbolics was approved, people in the Sochi 2014 Organization Committee said. The Krasnodar region accounts for 80 percent of such cases, most of which relate to illegal trade of souvenirs.
“In terms of marketing, the enthusiasm of manufacturers is easy to understand. The nation’s attitude to Olympics is very positive. A powerful PR-flow has established around anything related to Sochi 2014, and manufacturers endeavor to seize it by the tail,” said Samvel Avetisyan, the managing partner at Arkhideya Brand Agency. Some 41 percent of the Russians were delighted to learn about choosing Sochi to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, showed the poll of All-Russia’s Public Opinion Center.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of June 10, 2008
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