Olympic hockey champion Cassie Campbell was on hand to help launch a Scotiabank campaign VANOC says is too closely associated with the Olympics. (CBC)

Vancouver's Olympic organizers say Scotiabank is offside for trying to associate with the 2010 Games through its latest marketing campaign, even though it is not an official Olympic sponsor.

Scotiabank launched the "Show Your Colours" campaign in Vancouver Tuesday, featuring a two-time gold medal-winning hockey player and a message that it was time for Canadians to exhibit their pride and spirit.

'The average consumer will assume this is related to the Games.'— VANOC's Bill Cooper

But the timing and the symbols are suspect, according to VANOC's director of commercial rights management, Bill Cooper.

"You look at … the decision to launch it in Vancouver a month before the Games start," Cooper told CBC News.

"You look at the duration – scheduled to begin a month before the games and end after the games … We believe that the average consumer is going to be predisposed to assume this is related to the 2010 Winter Games."

The Royal Bank of Canada is the official bank sponsor of the Winter Olympics, having paid $110 million for the rights to use the Games in its advertising.

Prepared to take legal action

In Tuesday's campaign launch, Scotiabank gathered a group of young hockey players dressed in red and white and had Olympic women's hockey star and gold medallist Cassie Campbell calling on assembled onlookers to "show our Canadian pride" and autographing pucks for fans.

The Scotiabank campaign as it stands now is misleading consumers and threatens the Royal Bank's legitimate sponsorship, Cooper said.

He said that as a result, Scotiabank has been asked to postpone its campaign until after the Olympics and if the company doesn't, VANOC is prepared to take legal action.

One legal expert agreed that VANOC could have a case.

"If that's going to create an impression that this company is a sponsor when in fact it's not then clearly there's something unfair going on," said University of British Columbia law professor Mira Sundara Rajan.

"That's where the law steps in and says this is something that shouldn't be allowed."

Scotiabank issued a statement late Wednesday saying it was reviewing VANOC's request.