Television advertisements on US television include sandwich shop Subway where Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps "fuels up . . . so he can get to where the action is this winter" and a map charting Phelps's route to what appears to be Vancouver.
Telecoms operator Verizon Wireless’s advert with two speedskaters race on an icy oval includes the commentary: "What does it take to . . . succeed in a place with the highest level of intense competition?" Neither Subway nor Verizon Wireless is an official Olympic sponsor.
“Ultimately, companies which try to create the false impression that they are an official partner of the Olympic Games, or create a false association with the Olympic Games, are cheating Olympic athletes," said Gerhard Heiberg, an IOC member from Norway and the chairman of the IOC Marketing Commission.
Lisa Baird, the USOC's chief marketing officer, said the body had relayed its concerns to Subway, Verizon Wireless and other companies.
