olympic gold

I don’t want to be one of those people moaning about the Olympics.  Honestly, I don’t.  Saying that LOCOG brand enforcement is crazy and I’m frightened.  Almost worse than LOCOG is the whole heap of bad (read lazy) ads cropping up to peddle us shit.  The majority of these ads run on the premise that if Olympic athletes, as human being that are better than you, use these products then you should too.

It’s not all bad though.  Oh no, there are some (three to be precise and vague at the same time) that are pretty stonking.  Handy that because I’m about to start an inventive, Gold, Silver, Bronze ranking system.

Bronze – adidas – Take the Stage

Adidas is the only commercial brand that’s produced anything I react to positively.  Sure, they have it easy in a lot of ways- sportswear is cool, adidas is cool,  their font is cool but the ad is mindblowing, epic, cinematic (and a whole heap of other positive adjectives).  That final scene with the woman with the Union Jack and a lion mask is flawless.

Silver – BBC – Olympics Stadium

A large part of the appeal of this BBC ad is how unexpected it is.  It’s got the same cinematic feel as the others but the animation catapults it to a whole other level.  It makes this one of the only ads really capable of showing the UK as a whole rather as opposed to the London-centric/generic locations found in most other ads.  The not quite true to life proportions of the athletes is a nice touch (especially on the weightlifter) and makes the swimmers, divers and gymnasts look even more effortless than usual.

Gold – Channel 4 – Meet the Superhumans

Channel 4 has really knocked this Olympics promotions thing out of the park.  Every single ad/ident I’ve seen relating to the Paralympics has been absoluteyl, undeniably incredible.  Meet this Superhumans is a particular standout piece and I could easily watch this forever.  The editing is remarkable and really makes the ad for me.  Placing the accidents and explosions in the middle is a bold move that has really paid off.  The fast edit in the final few seconds is pretty cool too.  It stops it being an ad about pity and make it an ad about power.   It’s just stunning, no other way to put it.

Winner