ambush marketing

American  

[am-boosh mahr-ki-ting] / ˈæm bʊʃ ˈmɑr kɪ tɪŋ /

noun

1. a marketing strategy for associating a brand with a major event without paying sponsorship fees, often by exploiting the publicity generated by an official sponsor and rival brand.

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Etymology

Origin of ambush marketing

First recorded in 1985–90

Example Sentences

A stream of branded Starbucks cups has seeped around the Olympic grounds in what some initially surmised was a cunning ambush marketing campaign—a suggestion that Starbucks and NBC deny.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 15, 2014

Other athletes will be happy to know the I.O.C. will not be checking their underwear for potential ambush marketing.

From New York Times • Jul. 27, 2012

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games ordered the campaign be taken down for breaching strict rules on ambush marketing of the event by brands that are not official sponsors.

From The Guardian • Jul. 25, 2012

Sponsors channel billions of dollars into events like this month's Olympics in London, but rival companies come up with all manner of wheezes to try to publicize their brand for free in so-called ambush marketing.

From Reuters • Jul. 4, 2012

More than 30 women showed up at the Netherlands' opening match wearing orange mini-dresses emblazoned with the name of Dutch brewery Bavaria NV, which has made a habit of ambush marketing at the World Cup.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 10, 2010