ABSTRACT
One of the most controversial ethical issues in sponsorship is ambush marketing and in the UK this became a hot topic of discussion within the industry ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games. With hosting and infrastructure costs topping Euro 10bn from the public purse, it is reasonable that the business community share some reflective benefit of the London 2012 Olympic Games stages in the capital, particularly in the wake of a weakened domestic economy and the opportunities for benefiting from the 'bounce factor'. In the context of ethics, sponsorship is seen as a massive trust builder with internal audiences. Ethics is now a major business issue for all companies and organisations it is less about complying with legal obligations and much more about how a company or organisation makes a contribution to the wider society as part of its commercial and non-commercial activities. Ethical behaviour has a linear relationship with the reputation of a company or organization.
