Telstra pulls ad promoting ‘Olympics on 7’ app amid legal threats

July 12, 2016 4:12

Australia’s biggest telco Telstra has been forced to pull an ad promoting the Channel Seven Olympics app after receiving legal letters about associating itself with the Olympics through the guerrilla ad.

The campaign, which aired for less than than a week, was set to a modern version of Peter Allen’s song ‘I Go to Rio’ and appeared ended with the line “Official technology partner of Seven’sOlympic Games coverage”.

While Telstra has been the official Olympics sponsor of the Australian Olympic Committee it gave up those rights for the current cycle, and they were picked up by rival Optus.

However the Olympics are covered by strict rules which govern what brands can and cannot say in their marketing about their association with the Games, while brands breaking those rules can be subjected to hefty fines.

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Nic Christensen

Nic Christensen worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2016, in roles including deputy editor and media & technology editor. He is former media writer for The Australian and has also worked as a reporter for The Daily Telegraph and senior producer for Radio 2GB.

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