With the Olympic games starting next week, the United States Olympic Committee has released some interesting rules regarding the use of Social Media and non-sponsor businesses.

For instance:

  • You (your business) can’t use hashtags that include Olympics trademarks such as #TeamUSA or #Rio2016.
  • Your business can’t share anything from official Olympics social media accounts. Even retweets are prohibited.
  • You must not use words that incorporate the word “Olympic,” such as Mathlympics, Aqualympics, Chicagolympics, Radiolympics, etc.
  • You can’t even wish the athletes luck.
  • Don’t post any Olympic results.
  • And definitely do not host an Olympic or Paralympic-themed contest or team-building event for employees.

Read more about the restrictions here and here. As the AdWeek article mentions, it may be frustrating for non-official sponsor brands, but it doesn’t eliminate companies from taking part in the conversation. They’ll just have to be smart about the way they do it.

Interested in learning more? Need help with your digital or social media strategy? M2 is here to help. Email us any time at info@motivatedmarketing.com.

Blog credit: Trent Morgan, Digital Analyst. Cheeky title by Editor/Producer Mark Moughamian.