[panicslowly]

> They could show the product in use.

I'm thinking Samsung has exclusive rights to advertise for consumer electronics (or something like that) during the Olympics. (Keep in mind these ads debuted for the Olympics' opening ceremony.)

Therefore Apple has to advertise in a way that gets around these exclusivity deals. Therefore products are a no show.

[jessedhillon]

That is a very important context to these ads. So much so, that it renders the rest of the conversation essentially moot.

Do you have a link explaining the situation?

[panicslowly]

Nope. Conjecture, sorry.

But there's a term for it, Ambush marketing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambush_marketing