Advertise At Olympics, But Be Careful!
January 18th, 2010

On Friday, February 12, 2010, all eyes will be on Canada as the 2010 Winter Olympic Games finally take off. With Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia sharing the hosting duties of this historic event, there will be an abundance of opportunities for Canadian business owners to both advertise and draw in more business than ever before.

It appears as if the upcoming Winter Games may just provide the perfect opportunity for business owners to distribute their free promotional items as the number of visitors to the province will clearly increase dramatically. Something lightweight and practical would probably be the best bet.

While history has shown that you pretty much can't go wrong with our pen and key chain collection, we also provide an array of sunglasses which may be perfect for fans wanting to take it the outdoor action throughout each day of the Olympics. This will especially be the case during the first few days of the Games when Ski Jumping, Alpine Skiing, Luge and Biathlon will all take centre stage as some of the first competitions to get underway.

Doling out the promo gifts may, in fact, also be the most cost-effective way to promote your business during the Olympics as only official sponsors of the Games will be granted access to having their brands advertised. According to Karen Moxley in her article in The Globe and Mail last week, some officials are going so far as to have librarians in Vancouver actually cover up logos and names of competitors of any official sponsor of the Olympic Games.

In a memo, written by marketing and communications manager Jean Kavanagh, library staff are being requested to “avoid such companies as Pepsi or Dairy Queen - neither of which is an official sponsor, unlike, say Coca-Cola or McDonald's.” Kavanagh even suggests taking unusual steps to avoid the display of non-sponsors by writing: "If you have a speaker/guest who happens to work for Telus, ensure he/she is not wearing their Telus jacket, as Bell is the official sponsor."

As well, she says, if any rented sound equipment is not a Panasonic model, it should have its name and logo covered with cloth or tape. Sounding crazy yet? We couldn't make this up. While this may seem extreme, Kavanagh was quoted in an interview as saying that she did not believe that these measures constituted censorship.

Alex Youngberg, president of the library union, apparently disagrees saying that the memo “is contrary to the spirit of a public library.” Says Youngberg: "There's something in my library to offend everybody...And that's our job. Our job as library staff is to not ever censor any information."

It seems that it goes without saying that staying away from Vancouver libraries while advertising this winter is a good idea. Meanwhile, it is a good idea to take in the Olympic Games, cheer for Canada and advertise your business as best you can. Take advantage of the excitement in the air and work towards having your company reach gold medal status.