Stella's ambush

Official sponsor of the U.S. Open?  Not quite.

There's a thing I've been reading about in my marketing class called Ambush Marketing.  Meaning exactly that.  Marketing products or services by a company to create and illusion that these products or services are associated with a specific event. 

This "association" is without the permission of the sport endeavor or its official partner(s).  The intent is to deceive the consumer into believing they are, in fact, affiliated in some way. 

But how would a savy consumer know whether this is true or not?  Well, one thing to look for is the official logo or trademark of an "event" that would relate the product or service to.  Perhaps one of the best examples occurred this past September when when the beer Stella Artois, the Belgian beer owned by Anheuser-Busch In, ran a series of banner advertisements all around the US Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y., site of the US Open Tennis Championships. 

Banners depicting the beer's logo and trademarks included an image of a tennis ball and were strategically placed in key locations, including the subway platforms right outside the Arthur Ashe Stadium where thousands of tennis fans would pass daily en route to the championships. 

The problem: Stella Artois is not a corporate sponsor of the U.S. Open. That would belong to rival Heineken. 

Sounds like a little gamesmanship, a little "ambush marketing tactic" on the part of Stella.  Is it ethical to pull this off with the blatant intention of trying to capture an particular audience attending an event, without paying the large rights fees that come with officially becoming a sponsor of the US Open?  Probably not. 

But the platforms where the banners are located are owned by the Long Island Railroad and by all accounts, they have the right to work with advertisers in any capacity they so desire. 

To the average fan, these ads are probably affective, but would their attitude change if realized this is not an official partner of the US Open.  

Likely not, but it begs the question to both Heineken and Stella: "Is it worth it in the end?" 

Think I'll just grab a Bud.