The Beijing Olympics is the most heavily sponsored ever. The 12 worldwide Olympic partners, who have paid up to $100 million for their rights, are McDonald's, Lenovo, Kodak, General Electric, Coca-Cola, Samsung, Omega, Visa, Johnson & Johnson, Panasonic, Manulife and Atos Origin.
In addition there are 15 China Olympic Partners, 10 sponsors, 15 exclusive suppliers and 17 suppliers. For beer alone there are three official suppliers: Tsingdao, Budweiser and Yanjing.
And with all these brands battling to associate themselves with the games, a number of other companies are likely to attempt ambush marketing.
The term ambush marketing was coined in the early 1990s by Jerry Walsh, a marketing executive at American Express. Originally intended as a positive concept, it now has negative connotations and is defined as an attempt by a brand to associate itself with an...