The statement comes after the American outdoor wear firm - which is not an official sponsor of the Canadian Olympic team - launched a new clothing line branded as "2014 Village Wear", later renamed the "International Collection", that used what the COC calls Olympic-themed advertising and promotions in conjunction with a "2014 Sweepstakes" contest.

The COC claimed consumers purchasing The North Face products, some of which feature "RU 14" wording, believing they are buying official licensed Olympic merchandise are being "misled".

"The Canadian Olympic Committee will vigorously defend its brand, including all its sponsors and licensees, against ambush marketing attempts to mislead Canadians," COC chief executive Christopher Overholt said.

"I'm concerned that Canadians have purchased The North Face apparel assuming that by doing so they are supporting the Canadian Olympic team, when that is just not the case.

"We expect The North Face to take immediate action to remedy the situation."

On its retail website for the range, The North Face features the wording: "The North Face is an official sponsor of US Freeskiing and is the US Freeskiing official competition uniform supplier.

"The North Face is not a sponsor of or apparel supplier for the Olympic Games, the United States Olympic Committee, or Team USA.

"None of the proceeds from the International Collection directly support the US Olympic Team."

Ambush marketing is taken seriously within the Olympic Movement and their are strict regulations in place to protect official sponsors and partners.

However, as exclusively revealed by insidethegames earlier this month, a recent study showed that non-Olympic sponsors are still winning the race to Sochi 2014 ahead of the Worldwide Olympic Partners in terms of brand affiliation to the Games.

In the top 20 list of the Sochi 2014 Brand Marketing Outlook report, five of the top ten spots were occupied by non-affiliated brands, with the bottom six spots being held by Worldwide Olympic Partners.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
January 2014: Exclusive - Non-Olympic partners winning "ambush marketing" race to Sochi 2014, says report
September 2013: Ten of top 15 brands associated with Sochi 2014 are non-Olympic partners, says report