Los Angeles, Lillehammer, Atlanta, France, Sydney, Salt Lake City, Japan, South Korea, Portugal, Wimbledon. What have they all got in common? These places have all, to their detriment, been ambushed – ambushed by marketers, who some might describe as ingenious and others as unscrupulous.

With the capital winning the right to stage the Olympics in 2012, many are asking if London will be next.