Unless I am mistaken – and of course this is distinctly possible, given that for years I puzzled over the phrase "Second to None" until I realised that "none" meant "no one" rather than "zero" – the motto accompanying the Winter Games that have just concluded in Sochi had a sexual element to it.

"Hot. Cool. Yours." This artful concentration of buzzwords was patently assembled with the desire – if you'll forgive the phrase – to make the 22nd Winter Games attractive to the younger audience.

Ah-hem. At this point shall we recall the official explanation of the motto in question. "Hot" reflected the intensity of sporting competition and the passion of the spectators. "Cool" reflected the Winter Games and the common perception of Russia's climate. "Yours" symbolised personal commitment.

Yeah, right.

The slogan worked. Ahead of the action – if you'll forgive the phrase – attractive (subjective) competitors tweeted pictures of themselves alongside banners boasting the three key words. They were happy to associate themselves with an advertising campaign's carefully modulated vision.

"Hot. Cool. Yours." - A slogan clearly assembled to appeal to a younger audience ©AFP/Getty Images



Hot. "Hot", like "fit", is increasingly interchangeable as a variant on the word "sexy".

Note to younger readers: "sexy" was a word used back in the 20th century to denote attractiveness. Note to older readers: Please do not ever use the words "hot" or "fit" in any sense or on any occasion as they are likely to cause excessive amusement/embarrassment among any young people within earshot.

For instance, a comment about an athlete – "He looks really fit" – will provoke snorts of derision from one's children or firmly suppressed mirth from young people who are obliged to be polite to you (the two categories being occasionally interchangeable.)

Any comment about heat is also off limits – on a summer's day, for instance, the simply expressed statement "I'm hot" will provoke another round of guffaws and shared looks from any young audience.

On one occasion I tried to outface this annexation of language (imagine now describing someone as "gay" when you wish merely to refer to their bright and vivacious mood) when my wife referred to some sad specimen of humanity – it might have been Alan Rickman or someone like that – as "hot". I added, wittily: "Perhaps he needs to remove some of his clothing then." This failed on every level.

Anyway, the Sochi slogan was clearly put together to engender the idea that the 22nd Winter Games were like an ideal partner – sexy, smart and available, to paraphrase.

Why the Olympics should have to be seen as "hot" is another question. No one tried to describe London 2012 as hot, or even cool. It was enough that they Inspired a Generation. But given that it was deemed necessary, the slogan worked within its terms because, crucially, it got the tone right.

This week, another attempt to generate youthful interest in a global sporting event – this year's World Cup finals in Brazil – has demonstrated what can happen when the tone is misjudged. And it's not cool.

Adidas, the global sporting goods manufacturers who are one of the main sponsors of the World Cup, for which they like to introduce footballs which fly in new and unpredictable ways every four years, have just been obliged to halt production of a range of T-shirts promoting the forthcoming event.

Adidas have been obliged to halt production of a range of T-shirts promoting the football World Cup in Brazil, because of their sexual connotations ©Getty Images for adidas



One of the shirts – said to be a limited range for sale within the United States – features a scantily clad woman and the printed question "Looking to score?" Another uses a picture of a heart shaped like a bikini-clad bottom and carrying the words "I love Brazil." Never mind the subtext – the text is sex.

The reaction from Brazil has been swift and condemnatory. The country's tourist board, Embratur, announced on Tuesday: "Any links between national icons and images with sex appeal are against the country's official marketing policies. Such an attitude can directly contribute to committing crimes such as sexual child and adolescent exploitation. Brazil does not tolerate this type of crime on its territory."

Brazil's President, Dilma Rousseff, also got involved, tweeting that Brazil was happy to greet tourists for the World Cup but that the country was also ready to fight sexual tourism.

Adidas, as you might imagine, have responded smartly, pointing out that they always pay attention to the opinion of its consumers and partners, and adding that the products in question "would not be sold any more".

Brazil as a nation has been making it clear that it is trying to distance itself from sexual stereotypes with which their country has been associated over many years.

Tastes change; attitudes shift. Brazil may find it easier to regulate the element of sexuality during the forthcoming World Cup finals, but it will surely find that task more difficult two years from now when the Olympics arrive in Rio.

Given the nature of the Games – let's think beach volleyball for a moment – it is hard to see how presentation can be devoid of references, direct or indirect, to sex. It can't be denied that sex is part of the sell.

It's hard to see how presentation of sports such as beach volleyball, for example, can be devoid of references to sex ©Sports Illustrated/Getty Images



What should not happen is the imposition of sex, or sexual imagery, onto sporting endeavours which have nothing to do with it.

At the 1992 Barcelona Games, for instance, a British tabloid newspaper greeted the 400m hurdles victory of Chigwell's Sally Gunnell with the headline: Essex girls DO come first.

Someone on the subs desk, or more likely the top bench, must have thought this was very funny. Doubtless it was a line waiting to be used if and when this farmer's daughter crossed the line first.

But it was demeaning and depressing – a sad snigger that would have been better expressed and forgotten in a saloon bar. Gunnell later gamely agreed that her parents had "seen the joke" in the headline. Why should they have had to?

When it comes to matters of sex and sport, as Adidas are now keenly aware, tone is key.