I know 2021 has been a weird year for anything Olympics-related because, well, there wasn’t supposed to be an Olympics in 2021. The Olympics were supposed to be last year, but there was the pandemic, and this year there’s still the pandemic but organizers were, like, “Screw it, we’re over this, let’s just have this huge-scale, global, honestly optional athletic event and hope 169 people (and counting) don’t catch COVID just from said event.” And so they did.
Despite the questionable wisdom of actually going ahead with the games, though, a lot of sponsors and advertisers are committed to the point where pulling out isn’t really an option. Toyota, for instance, decided not to run Olympics-themed ads in Japan (where the games are, at the moment, notoriously unpopular) — but they’ve already been running them in the U.S. and plan to continue doing so. A lot of companies had already poured money into campaigns for last year’s games-that-didn’t-happen and were faced with the options of repurposing them or scrapping them and eating the expense. And here we are.
Again, the wisdom of said Olympics notwithstanding, I have to appreciate some of the ads that eventually sprang forth from advertiser budgets. Some creative teams were able to make the most of the setting, the circumstances, the challenges, and the triumphs to put out some really moving ads. Here are the five best Olympics ads in 2021, ranked by number instead of giving medals or anything because the Olympic Committee will sue the pants off you if you look at their intellectual property sideways.
5. Nike, “Best Day Ever” (Wieden+Kennedy)
This ad is mostly just fun — fast-paced, entertaining, engaging. But it also has some nice touches that I appreciate, particularly because of how deftly they’re inserted. It celebrates Olympic (or should-be-Olympic) athletes like wheelchair tennis player Diede de Groot, 13-year-old Olympic skateboarder Sky Brown, and outstanding but unfairly robbed Sha’Carri Richardson, and it has some funny bits like growing shoes from a plant and running a marathon on Mars, and it also draws attention to the general lack of respect for athletes’ mental health.
That the mental-health part was juxtaposed with the marathon-on-Mars part was not lost on me.
Anyway, it’s fun, and I like it, and here it is.
4. Canon, “One Image” (BSPK)
Okay, I’m going to start out by saying that “one image” doesn’t really resonate with me here, because the sound design is clearly doing the heavy lifting in this ad. I like it, and I like the focus on those inspirational photos, and it gets the idea across. I just don’t know that “one image” is thoroughly conveyed by an ad that isn’t as emotionally effective if you don’t listen to it.
That said, if you listen to it, the ad is emotionally effective, and I love the inspirational images and the kids those images inspire. It all works together. Good job, Canon.
3. Facebook, “Longboard Family” (Droga5)
Skateboarding makes its Olympic debut this year, which I think is cool — athletically and artistically, it’s at least as worthy as badminton, so I welcome it. Facebook does, too, with this really, really pretty ad. It’s just pretty. The music is pretty, the choreography is pretty, the editing is pretty, and tbh I don’t care anything more about Facebook Groups now than I did before I saw this video, but I do appreciate Facebook shelling out for FKA Twigs to direct an Olympics ad for them, because it’s very pretty.
2. Dick’s Sporting Goods, “There She Is” (Anomaly)
This is such a perfect way to recognize female athletes. I love the idea of redefining “Miss America,” and highlighting the inherent beauty in that kind of hard work. I also love that the concept lines up with an actual, ongoing commitment by Dick’s to support women and girls in athletics. There are some things that make a campaign more powerful that don’t come from the minds of the creative team, and actually aligning the things you say with the things you do is invaluable for a brand.
1. Omega, “Omega Meets Japan” (Pedone)
This one wins everything because it’s just perfect. It’s stunning. It’s the Simone Biles of Olympics-related watch ads in 2021. The music, the imagery, the editing, the everything. I don’t even have anything substantive to say about it. It’s just lovely.
You’re all winners in my book.
I also want to throw in an honorable mention for Samsung’s Olympics ad, which is nice and upbeat and cool and everything, and I love all the connections, since everyone still has to be so far apart this year, and then there’s the little part right in the middle where Sky Brown got a hug from her dad and I kind of teared up. Good job, Samsung.
Even as pandemics rage and athletes strive, one thing will always be the same: capitalism. (Since that’s basically the reason my job exists, I kind of have to be cool with that, don’t I.) Here’s to these five advertisers, and all the others who made ads that were good but not enough to make it into the medals. And all the advertisers who didn’t want to touch anything Olympics-related with a ten-foot pole, which I totally understand and respect.
Greater velocity, superior height, more strength. (Please don’t sue me.)