Sindhu may sue corporate giants for exploiting her Olympic medal winning moment

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Olympic bronze medal winner PV Sindhu is looking at legal options against some big companies for allegedly exploiting her medal winning moment at the Tokyo Games to promote their brands without taking her consent, according to a report in leading financial daily Economic Times.</p>
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Baseline Ventures, the sports marketing agency that handles Sindhu’s advertising deals, will be sending legal notices on her behalf seeking damages to the tune of Rs 5 crore from each of these companies, the news report states.</p>
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The names of the companies that will be sent the notices include Vicks maker Procter & Gamble, multinational giant Perfitti Van Melle, Aditya Birla Group, Apollo Hospitals and Pan Bahar. </p>
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Economic Times cited Baseline Ventures MD Tuhin Mishra as saying: “We are surprised that such leading Indian and global firms are resorting to such forms of communication to associate with our athletes, which is in complete breach of their IPR (intellectual property rights) and privacy.”</p>
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Social media was flooded with congratulatory messages for PV Sindhu when she won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics last week with the Prime Minister himself congratulating her for the historic moment making her the first Indian women to win medals in two consecutive Olympic Games.</p>
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While many fans and companies put out congratulatory posts on social media, Baseline Ventures alleges these brands used their logos and brand name along with the athlete. According to the sports marketing agency this constitutes an exploitation of the event by these corporates to push their own brands, which in technical advertising parlance is called “moment marketing.”  The agency’s contention is that there was no formal deal signed to allow these companies to associate their names with the Olympic champion at her winning moment.</p>
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Other brands have also associated themselves with medal winning Indian athletes at the Tokyo Olympics.</p>
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Young Indian weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, who shot into fame with the winning of India’s first medal at the Tokyo Games has also earned the promise of a free pizza by Dominos and free movie tickets from multiplex chain INOX for a lifetime.</p>
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The 26-year-old has captured the imagination of the entire nation with her silver medal early in the Games and the two brands appear to have been equally quick off the blocks to announce their rewards and be associated with the winner.</p>
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Leading dairy brand Amul is another company that has been successfully associating itself with victories on the sports field.</p>