5 Greatest Sponsorship Ambushes in The History of Biggest Sporting Events

The 2024 Summer Olympics is about a month away. With athletes from all around the world participating in the biggest sporting event, brands have a golden opportunity to showcase themselves to a global audience. But while you may think that sponsoring the event could be the only way of doing that, the marketing teams of certain brands might already be gearing up to pull off sponsorship ambushes at the showpiece event. And why not? After all, it has happened in several sporting events over the years.

So, here we are with 5 greatest sponsorship ambushes at some of the biggest sporting events in history.

1. Nike: 2012 London Olympics

Adidas was given the official sponsorship of the 2012 London Olympic Games and the London 2012 Paralympic Games. But Nike had a way around this.

Nike came up with the “Find Your Greatness” campaign, which showcased everyday athletes at various places named London, such as East London in South Africa, London Ohio in the US, Little London in Jamaica, and even a health club called London Gym. This brilliant move meant that Nike could associate itself with London without actually making any sponsorship infringements.

Of course, Nike found itself embroiled in some legal disputes after this but I guess it was worthwhile considering that 60% of the people believed that Nike was the official sponsor of the event.

2. Bavaria: FIFA 2006 & 2010

Everyone loves an underdog story, don’t they? Well, this incident of the Dutch beer brand Bavaria taking on its much more successful and established rival, Budweiser, is one for the ages!

It all began in 2006 during the 2006 World Cup in Germany when dozens of Dutch fans had to watch in their underwear after stewards asked them to remove the orange lederhosen bearing Bavaria’s name. But while one would assume that Bavaria would have called it quits after the fans weren’t allowed to enter the stadium, the beer company had other plans. Yes, they did it again at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa!

The 2010 World Cup saw FIFA officials ejecting 36 female fans from a game for wearing unbranded orange miniskirts that Bavaria provided. But while those poor fans failed to watch the game, the move worked perfectly because suddenly everyone around the world was now talking about it. People who had never even heard of the Bavaria Beer company now had its name at the tip of their tongues!

3. Li Ning: 2008 Beijing Olympics

While one can’t say certainly if this was an attempt at ambush marketing, the results were quite impressive for Li Ning, the sportswear brand.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics saw Li Ning, a former gymnast, being chosen to light the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony. This gave him and his company a free ten-minute advertisement across the world as the aerially suspended Li Ning encircled the top of the Bird’s Nest stadium before lighting the flame. Of course, it left Adidas, the official sponsor of the Beijing Olympics, fuming, and understandably so.

But this wasn’t the first time that Li Ning had been perceived to be cashing in on the efforts of its American rivals. The company’s slogan ‘Anything is Possible’ is quite similar to Adidas’ tagline “Impossible is Nothing”.

Also, its corporate logo resembles the famous Nike ‘swoosh’. It seems like their marketing team spends all of its creativity on ambushing its rivals!

4. Paddy Power: 2012 London Olympics

Popular Irish gambling company Paddy Power is well-known for its cunning approach to sports marketing. And the London Organizing Committee of the 2012 Olympic Games found that out the hard way!

Paddy Power took out a series of provocative billboards that read, “Official sponsor of the largest athletics event in London this year! There you go, we said it”. Naturally, one would assume that they were talking about the 2012 Olympic Games. However, in the parenthesis underneath, the ad admitted that its sponsorship was meant for an egg and spoon race in the town of London in France.

The organizers of the London Olympics were obviously mad and ordered the billboards to be taken down. But Paddy Power dug its heels in and the campaign was allowed to continue. Very well done, guys😂

5. Puma: Cricket World Cup 2023

Puma wasn’t the official sponsor of the 2023 Cricket World Cup held in India. But that didn’t deter them from hijacking the entire event.

Puma launched an AI-led campaign called PUMA Dive and roped in its ambassador and biggest cricketing icon Virat Kohli to make this campaign a mega success. The star batsman took to social media to announce the campaign along with an image of him diving and asking fans to rate it.

Under the two-month-long campaign, participants were encouraged to upload pictures of the best dives in everyday life- be it skydiving, football, swimming, or even artists at concerts with the hashtag PUMADive.

Way to go, Puma!

Wrapping Up

And that was a wrap of some of the best sponsorship ambushes at the biggest sporting events in recent history. Ambush marketing is a two-edged sword and can cut both ways. But as long as the positives outweigh the repercussions, you’re good to go.

We’ll be back with more wonderful marketing campaigns for you. Till then, stay tuned!