See allLatest Trade Alerts

Brokerage Partners

10 London Summer Olympics Brands You Can't Escape

Tickers in this article: V MCD PC BP PG

McDonald's(MCD)
McDonald's has been an Olympic sponsor for more than 35 years, but the Brits are taking this year's sponsorship with a big side of hate. They're already uncomfortable with commercials airing there featuring Olympic happy meals that give kids mini pedometers under the guise of "helping" Olympic mascots get to the games. There's no word if the British children's route to the Olympic venues includes a quick stop at the drive-thru window for a sack of burgers and a flagon of milkshake, but British doctors are already calling the supersized McDonald's proposed for the athlete's village a billboard for obesity. McDonald's Olympic ads have yet to air in the U.S. -- where there's a much higher tolerance for the pairing of high-impact athletics with high-fat foods -- but so far London isn't down with the clown.

Omega
In case you were wondering, they're still making watches. Yes, the ones with the hands. You know who knows this? Boomers, who've seemingly never stopped wearing them and will leave watches to their heirs in the same volumes that the World War II generation left behind Hummel figurines. It's that generation that's going to love Omega's commercial featuring well-toned athletes, precision watches and the ultimate Boomer sports anthem: The Rolling Stones' Start Me Up off their 1981 album Tattoo You. Mick is still cool enough to shrug off Moves Like Jagger and play with Arcade Fire and Foo Fighters, but his songs have been reduced to selling timepieces that are far less functional than they were when they first started timing Olympic events 80 years ago.