Antitrust fines totaling 2.5 million for parasitic marketing activities linked to the Milano Cortina Olympics brand. This is revealed in a note from the Competition and Market Authority which concluded proceedings initiated from January 2026 against the companies Harmont&Blaine, Rialto (the supermarket group Il Gigante), MD, Magazzini Gabrielli (the Oasi supermarkets), RetailPro (Pro7 supermarkets) and Butan Gas, finding violations of the ban on “parasitic activities”.
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The investigations were initiated following monitoring activities carried out by the Special Antitrust Unit of the Guardia di Finanza and the Authority exercised the powers granted by D.L. no. 16/2020 (converted into Law no. 31/2020) regarding “Ambush marketing”. In particular, the note states, “the Antitrust has found that Harmont&Blaine S.p.A., Rialto S.p.A., MD S.p.A., Magazzini Gabrielli S.p.A., RetailPro S.p.A. and Butan Gas S.p.A. – although not official sponsors of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games – created a link between their brand and the Olympics, misleading the public about the identity of the official sponsors.”
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Coinciding with the period of the Olympic Games, in fact, “the companies,” emphasizes the Antitrust, “carried out advertising campaigns and promotional activities in which the symbols (five rings) and Olympic emblems, and/or official names such as “Milano-Cortina/Milano-Cortina2026” were often reproduced or referenced in various ways. These elements were found to constitute parasitic activity in violation of the prohibition set out in Article 10 of Dl no. 16/2020.”
Here are the amounts of the fines imposed for each company:
– Pro7 550 thousand euros;
– Oasi 500 thousand euros;
– Harmont&Blaine 500 thousand euros;
– Butan Gas 350 thousand euros;
– Il Gigante 310 thousand euros;
– MD 300 thousand euros.
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