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.

According to the CdS, the combination of the elements – position of the billboard near the Football Village, slogan used, football shirt, flags of the nations participating in the event – constituted communicative “framing” capable of persuading the average customer to believe, erroneously, that Zalando was the official sponsor of UEFA Euro 2020.

With its first decision on the topic of ambush marketing, the Italian Competition Authority lays down guidelines for advertising campaigns