Milano - Cortina 2026: AGCM investigations into ambush marketing
The Milano - Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games have come to an end, but the ambush marketing chapter is far from closed. In the weeks leading up to - and during - the event, the Italian Competition Authority (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato – AGCM) turned its spotlight on promotional initiatives allegedly capable of creating an undue association with the Olympic event by operators that were not official sponsors. We previously discussed the phenomenon here and here.
The first formal investigation concerned Harmont & Blaine S.p.A. Following a report by the Antitrust Special Unit of the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza), the AGCM opened proceedings against the company, alongside an interim measure aimed at suspending the contested advertising messages.
Secondo l’Autorità, la società avrebbe diffuso sui propri profili social contenuti promozionali in cui comparivano il simbolo olimpico dei cinque cerchi e gli hashtag #MilanoCortina e #MilanoCortina2026, anche in abbinamento ai propri segni distintivi e tramite campagne con influencer, oltre alla promozione della linea “Cortina a Colori”.
According to the Authority, the company allegedly published promotional content on its social media channels featuring the Olympic symbol of the five rings and the hashtags #MilanoCortina and #MilanoCortina2026, including in combination with its own distinctive signs and through influencer marketing campaigns. The promotion of a clothing line named “Cortina a Colori” was also scrutinised.
As the company was not listed among the official sponsors, such conduct may amount to a breach of Article 10 of Decree-Law No. 16/2020, which prohibits unauthorised - and therefore parasitic, misleading or deceptive - advertising and commercial activities connected to nationally or internationally relevant sporting or trade fair events.
The Authority’s scrutiny did not stop there. Two additional investigations and one moral suasion intervention were launched against operators in the large-scale retail sector, namely:
Rialto S.p.A., operating the “Il Gigante” supermarket chain;
MD S.p.A., owner of the “MD” supermarket chain;
SELEX Gruppo Commerciale S.p.A., managing the “Famila” supermarket chain.
The first of these proceedings was opened against Rialto S.p.A. in relation to an advertising campaign titled “TecnOlimpiadi”, through which the company allegedly used the Olympic rings and winter sports imagery to promote household appliances and consumer electronics.
The second investigation concerns MD S.p.A. and a campaign called “Inizio dei Giochi Olimpici MD Edition”, reportedly featuring images of the Olympic rings and the Olympic flame.
The third intervention took the form of a moral suasion measure addressed to SELEX Gruppo Commerciale S.p.A. for a campaign evocative of Olympic symbols. Moral suasion is a non-sanctioning instrument whereby the AGCM formally calls upon an operator to comply with applicable rules and invites it to amend or cease the contested conduct voluntarily, without initiating full-fledged infringement proceedings.
In all these cases – as already alleged in respect of Harmont & Blaine – the potential legal benchmark at issue is Article 10 of Decree-Law No. 16/2020, which provides the specific Italian framework aimed at preventing and sanctioning ambush marketing practices linked to major sporting events.