Sports marketing agencies including the likes of Baseline Ventures and IOS Sports reportedly have issued legal notices to brands on behalf of PR Sreejesh and Manu Bhaker for using their image or name in their marketing campaigns without prior permission of the athletes.
Baseline has asked Apollo Tyres to compensate Sreejesh for gaining exposure from his Olympics 2024 performance without authorisation or financial arrangement, according to a report by ET.
Bhaker won two bronze medals at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sreejesh has been an integral part of the Indian men’s hockey that won the bronze medal.
Read more: Legal notices sent to brands who latched on Manu Bhaker win without sponsoring her
In the past, the self-regulatory body Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has emphasised how brands piggybacking on athletes’ wins without permission violate its code, during Tokyo Olympics 2020.
According to the ASCI code, “Advertisements shall not, without permission from the person, firm or institution under reference, contain any reference to such person, which confers and unjustified advantage on the product advertised or tends to bring the person, firm or institute into ridicule or disrepute. If and when required to do so by ASCI, the advertiser and the advertising agency shall produce explicit permission from the person, firm or institution to which reference is made in the advertisement.”
In 2021, PV Sindhu and her agency Baseline Ventures took 20 brands to court for using her image and name for moment marketing, without her consent or proper permissions. The agency sought damages worth Rs 5 crore. The brand list included Perfetti Van Melle, Pan Bahar, Eureka Forbes, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Vodafone Idea, MG Motor, UCO Bank, Punjab National Bank, and State Bank of India, among others.
It is to be noted that in markets like the US and Europe, celebrities in large numbers have pursued litigation in such cases.