Now that the 2020 Olympics are officially rescheduled to 2021, NBC has a lot of content shuffling to do this summer amid cancellations and confusion. But one thing is clear to me, NBC is on top of its branding game. Never mind the media bloggers who can’t stop talking about the differences between “O” the letter and “0” the number. It just doesn’t matter from a branding perspective. The fact that the Olympics are NOT going to happen in 2020 is a big deal and the new 2020NE logo is a brilliant way to get the point across without using “2021” – which is not allowed by the International Olympic Committee (“IOC”). Indeed, the IOC appears to be in a state of denial over the postponement of the 2020 Games by this directive.
As a trademark professional, I was disappointed with the original NBC logo consisting of nothing more than the NBC Peacock Logo, a stylized “TOKYO,” the year 2020, and the Olympic rings. While the NBC Peacock is a well-recognized brand, the city name Tokyo is not a trademark because of geographic descriptiveness, the year 2020 is not a trademark under the theory of general descriptiveness, and the Olympic rings which are protected under the Lanham Act for exclusive commercial use and license by the U.S. Olympic Committee (“USOC”). In other words, the original NBC Olympic Logo was only the Peacock Logo plus additional non-protectable elements. Gold medal for boring!
The IOC is banning any 2021 branding in connection with the postponed Tokyo Games. And, let’s face it, the IOC is more powerful than an Eastern European shot putter. It can do whatever it wants. But why deny the fact that the 2020 Games are now in 2021? What NBC is doing with 2020NE is skirting the rule and the Lanham Act and devising a unique message with the addition of just two letters. And if you are wondering if the mark is the letter “O” or the number zero, the answer is YES. NBC filed two trademark applications for the new trademark – one for “O” and one for zero.
For the bloggers, who just cannot wrap their heads around how to pronounce the new branding, I say say stop the theatrics. You pronounce 2020ne as 2021. See how easy that was? It works great!