{"id":1378,"date":"2021-07-28T14:04:10","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T19:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/capertongillett.com\/blog\/?p=1378"},"modified":"2024-11-27T01:43:39","modified_gmt":"2024-11-27T07:43:39","slug":"the-2021-olympics-ads-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capertongillett.com\/blog\/the-2021-olympics-ads-olympics\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2021 Olympics Ads Olympics* (*please don\u2019t sue me)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Screenshot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I know 2021 has been a weird year for anything Olympics-related because, well, there wasn\u2019t supposed to be an Olympics in 2021. The Olympics were supposed to be last year, but there was the pandemic, and this year there\u2019s still the pandemic but organizers were, like, \u201cScrew it, we\u2019re over this, let\u2019s just have this huge-scale, global, honestly optional athletic event and hope 169 people (and counting) don\u2019t catch COVID just<\/em> from said event.<\/a>\u201d And so they did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the questionable wisdom of actually going ahead with the games, though, a lot of sponsors and advertisers are committed<\/a> to the point where pulling out isn\u2019t really an option. Toyota, for instance, decided not to run Olympics-themed ads in Japan<\/a> (where the games are, at the moment, notoriously unpopular) \u2014 but they\u2019ve 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\u2019s games-that-didn\u2019t-happen and were faced with the options of repurposing them or scrapping them and eating the expense. And here we are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Nike, \u201cBest Day Ever\u201d (Wieden+Kennedy)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This ad is mostly just fun \u2014 fast-paced, entertaining, engaging. But it also has some nice touches that I appreciate, particularly because of how deftly they\u2019re 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\u2019 mental health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That the mental-health part was juxtaposed with the marathon-on-Mars part was not lost on me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, it\u2019s fun, and I like it, and here it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Rm_aiDpkGmQ&ab_channel=Nike\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

4. Canon, \u201cOne Image\u201d (BSPK)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Okay, I\u2019m going to start out by saying that \u201cone image\u201d doesn\u2019t 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\u2019t know that \u201cone image\u201d is thoroughly conveyed by an ad that isn\u2019t as emotionally effective if you don\u2019t listen to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=U5brkYvQkLQ&ab_channel=CanonImagingPlaza\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

3. Facebook, \u201cLongboard Family\u201d (Droga5)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Skateboarding makes its Olympic debut this year, which I think is cool \u2014 athletically and artistically, it\u2019s at least<\/em> as worthy as badminton, so I welcome it. Facebook does, too, with this really, really pretty ad. It\u2019s just pretty. The music is pretty, the choreography is pretty, the editing is pretty, and tbh I don\u2019t 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\u2019s very pretty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=YS_KzPau1SE&feature=emb_title&ab_channel=Facebook\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2. Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods, \u201cThere She Is\u201d (Anomaly)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is such a perfect way to recognize female athletes. I love the idea of redefining \u201cMiss America,\u201d 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\u2019s to support women and girls in athletics<\/a>. There are some things that make a campaign more powerful that don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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