MILAN, July 17 : Italy's competition authority said on Friday it had fined six companies around €2.5 million ($2.9 million) in total for so-called ambush marketing linked to the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, after finding they had misled customers over their sponsorship status.• The companies fined are fashion brand Harmont & Blaine, supermarket chains Il Gigante, MD, Oasi and Pro7, and gas supplier ButanGas, the AGCM authority said.• It said an investigation established that they ran advertising campaigns using Olympic symbols, including the five rings, and official names such as "Milano-Cortina 2026" without holding sponsorship rights.• The six companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
• Ambush marketing is the act of setting up advertising campaigns associating the company with a team, league or event without paying for the privilege.• The investigation was opened in January after monitoring by the Guardia di Finanza's Special Antitrust Unit.• The campaigns ran during the Winter Olympic Games period, when the association with the event carries the greatest commercial value, the AGCM said.($1 = 0.8736 euros)
