With an Olympics advertising blackout set to kick off next week, a television and online campaign for Australian Mining featuring Aussie track cycling Olympian Anna Meares has been pulled.
The mining industry lobby group has pulled the campaign, after the Australian Olympic Committee said it would breach the rules surrounding Olympics advertising.
The month-long Olympics advertising “blackout” makes sure that only Olympics sponsors and team sponsors can use Olympics related content, including imagery of athletes, in their marketing. This is designed to protect the major investments made by sponsors.
A spokesperson for the Australian Olympic Committee told AdNews: “There is a blackout period for advertisers, except for official sponsors. We advised her management team that they should look into this rule, which comes into place on 16 July.
“They were told that if they didn't look into this rule, they were placing the athlete in danger of breaching her IOC accreditation.”
The ad campaign featured Meares wearing the brand of her sponsor BHP Billiton. The official Australian team sponsor is Rio Tinto, so the ad would constitute a breach of the blackout, even thought Rio Tinto is a supporter of Australian Mining.
There will not be a penalty for Meares or Australian Mining because the blackout does not start until 16 July.
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