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So, the 2010 Winter Olympics are over and Canada’s performance was lackluster to say the least. This isn’t just my opinion, pretty much everyone I talk to agrees.
No, I’m not talking about the performance of our athletes. I’m talking about Canada’s batch of Olympic advertising. It wasn’t great. In fact, in summarizing the Olympic advertising we’ve been inundated with these past couple of weeks, my initial plan was to award Gold, Silver and Bronze to those ads worthy of the podium. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a Gold to be seen. Not sure there was even a Silver.
I initially suspected that I was just being too tough a judge, so I asked around. I asked everyone I could. And mostly people outside of the industry. When asked to name a commercial that stood out to them, most people couldn’t. Or they named a commercial or campaign that stood out because it was annoying.
If there was a “winner”, it seems it’s the Coca-Cola “hockey” spot – which I agree is a great one. Hard to award it Gold, however, as it turns out that spot is eight years old (and created by our very own Bob Goulart and Dave Hamilton) and originally created for the 2002 Winter Games. Is an eight-year-old spot really the best we can do?
And while I didn’t think any one spot was worthy of Gold, I did think there were a few flashes of brilliance.
HBC’s tagline “We Were Made For This” was outstanding. Leveraging their heritage, they told us that their rich Canadian history has led them to this moment – the moment where they can design and sell the outfits for our home Olympic Games. I loved the line and the emotion it stirred. It almost made me forget they’re owned by an American. Nonetheless, the strategy and the line “We Were Made For This” stood out for me.
There were a few very nice spots for VISA (don’t love that the iconic voiceover is Morgan Freeman – an American), but nice Olympic stories, very well told.
And McDonald’s had some nice moments. Not quite the glory years when they used to leverage the wonderful line “Anything’s Possible When You Have a Dream,” but some nice moments, nonetheless.
All in all, maybe the big win was just being associated with these games. Regardless of the creative. It’ll be interesting to see how much “post-sell” the major sponsors of the games do. Because if those brands can somehow – even slightly – attach themselves to Sidney Crosby’s golden goal, or Joannie Rochette’s triumph in the face of adversity, or any of the countless stories that made us all feel so proud to be Canadian these past two weeks, maybe that’s the victory. Maybe just being attached to these games was Golden. Of course, some more memorable creative wouldn’t have hurt either.
Harvey Carroll
March 3, 2010 @ 12:51 pm
I have to agree with Randy’s take on this. While there were some bright spots overall, the performance was lackluster (quite in contrast to our athlete’s exceptional performances). For me what was missing from the games overall, with the exception of Rick Hansen’s pieces and one VISA ad, were the great stories of past games. The vignettes that remind us of how special the games are and how they bring people together. The VISA spot with the reference to the opposing coach providing a Canadian athlete with a ski pole when she broke her pole was magic for me. I wish there was more of this. Perhaps next time…
simon billing
March 3, 2010 @ 1:42 pm
Agree totally, from what I saw a pitiful showing. When you think of the marketing money spent on inflated airtime prices, sponsorships and so on it’s amazing to me that advertisers seem so willing to squander the investment on work that does little to advance their competitive cause.
The retreat into ’safe’ simply means they waste that proverbial other 50% of their spend. I think there’s a significant attitudinal deficit in the marketing community these days as I (in egregious example of link bait) say here http://www.grumpybrit.com/?p=498
Ian Mackenzie
March 3, 2010 @ 1:44 pm
Good topic. My two cents:
What did you think of the Tim Hortons immigration spot? It seemed to get good buzz.
Bell had a couple of nice moments that incorporated footage from the games almost in real time. (I could be wrong but I think the spot they aired 10 minutes after Crosby’s golden goal had that footage in it.)
Overall, there seemed to be a kind of anthemic sameness out there. Big Mountains. Big Talk. Warm Glow. Would have been nice to see something that took Big Chances.
On the interactive front, I didn’t see anything engaging. Maybe I missed it.
For me, the big media star of the games was hi-def. It was everywhere, and Samsung owned it with great product placement.
simon billing
March 3, 2010 @ 1:45 pm
BTW. Congratulations on an excellent agency blog – not to mention one of the few Canadian agency blogs extant, other than the self-congratulatory kind. I hope it spurs some others to do likewise.
angela harvey
March 3, 2010 @ 5:05 pm
I agree with your perspective.
For me, the Coke hockey spot was the one that defined the spirit of the games best – a nation’s pride, shared experience and a smattering of goosebumps – rerun or no.
Another sweetspot was Bell’s symphony spot that captured the defining Olympic moments. Again, pride of the tribe.
Shame there was nothing that pulled on any other emotional levers.
ameet
March 4, 2010 @ 1:18 pm
I have to say that the broadcast of the games itself deserved a GOLD medal in showing the true spirit of the athletes. CTV did an amazing job of covering the games. So if there is an advertisement that is worthy of GOLD it goes to CTV.
SILVER goes to MOLSON’s for all of us seeing their beer being consumed by our GOLDEN women’s hockey team and broadcast all over TV. I loved it… and will defend the team if asked.
TIED – BRONZE: Chevy ads which featured two cars talking to each other. I love the one with the smelly hockey equipment.
TIED – BRONZE The Tim Horton’s ad was great too.. it spoke of immigration and I can relate as my parents came to this country with nothing in their pockets.
I have to say these other ads failed the CABBIE TEST as stated by MR. Goodby..
On a side note: Memories are made from moments of the games. These games were great in that they showed off the human spirit, triumph over tragedy. Above all, I found the games were delivered the Canadian way.. nothing quite over the top, or mightily obnoxious. That should as always be good enough..