Going for the Green

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Such firms had better be careful. Both the U.S. and Los Angeles committees keep an almost fanatical watch on the proper use of their trademarks. Congress in 1978 gave the U.S. committee exclusive rights to the interlocking-rings symbol and even the term Olympic, while the Los Angeles committee has copyrighted the stars-in-motion logo and Sam the Eagle mascot. The group employs twelve detective agencies to track down unauthorized users of its symbols. When violators are found, the committee's lawyers go to court as fast as Carl Lewis does the 100-meter dash. They will reprimand even the main sponsors, as they did when Coca-Cola produced souvenir pins of Sam improperly grabbing a can of Coke.

Possibly the main concern of the sponsors is that the East bloc's pull-out will diminish consumer interest in the Games. Without the Soviets, says Robert Buchanan, executive vice president of the J. Walter Thompson ad agency, the contest "will be like debating with an empty chair." But then he adds hopefully, "Perhaps patriotism will cause Americans to rally round the Olympics. Controversy always attracts a bigger audience." In a poll last month by Grain's Chicago Business magazine, 14% of the local TV viewers surveyed said they would watch the Games less because of the Soviet boycott. Says Jerry Solomon, executive vice president of the D'Arcy McManus & Masius ad agency: "Nobody is changing their promoting plans. We're going full steam ahead as though nothing happened."

The confidence of advertisers in the Olympics comes from recent experience in sports sponsorship, which is currently one of the hottest promotional vehicles. According to the industry rule of thumb, $1 million spent on sponsoring a sporting event will make the same impression on the public as $10 million worth of other advertising. Says Barry Pavelec, executive director of the Center for Sports Sponsorship: "A company can instantly pick up an identification with the life-style or attitude that the sport reflects."

The sponsors have managed to shrug off the unflattering criticism about the commercial atmosphere of the Games. Wags in the European press have dubbed them the McLympics. The Nation,the liberal U.S. weekly, griped, "The whole event is beginning to look like a TV docu-drama about the last days of capitalism." The Soviets, before they withdrew their athletes, even made the absurd claim that the business support of the Games is an effort to cover up such corporate misdeeds as food poisoning and monopoly building.

The Los Angeles committee convincingly defends the capitalistic way. Says Dan Greenwood, the committee's head of sponsorship: "If you pulled out corporate support, amateur athletics in this country I would dry up virtually within a gyear." The committee is almost obsessive about maintaining a tone of dignity about the Games. No billboards, for example, will be allowed within sight of the playing fields. Says Greenwood: "Is there a risk of these companies' taking over the Games? Certainly not. They would be destroying the very thing that makes the Olympics valuable to them." The companies have shown some restraint. Says 7-Eleven's Scott: "Everyone is very sensitive about it. The Olympics require a certain amount of taste. We don't plan to have a discount Olympic Slurpee, for example."