Shawn Johnson risks life to sell a candy bar

Check out Shawn Johnson doing a backflip over a hurtling bobsled in the Nestlé Crunch video above. The press materials suggest that "gymnastics sites have been abuzz with close fans of hers debating whether the move is real"—which, if true, means her fans are morons. This second video, with Apolo Ohno skating on a bobsled track, is a bit more believable—except for the fact that he's wearing long skates at the beginning and the end of the run, and short skates in the middle.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on December 22, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Candy, Celebrity endorsements, Nestlé, Nudd, Olympics

Sochi 2014 picks fancy-looking URL as logo

The logo for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, was unveiled today, and it's notable both for what it doesn't include—the traditional abstract cultural image relating to the host city or country—and for what it does: a Web address. In other words, in a desperate appeal to the world's youth, even the Olympics are retreating from the real world into the virtual one. Developed by Interbrand and Sochi's own brand council, it's the first Olympic logo to feature a URL, and Sochi 2014 chief Dmitry Chernyshenko couldn't be more proud. "To prove our commitment to innovation, Sochi 2014 will have a clearly digital Games emblem," he says. "Today, we welcome tomorrow. ... Our emblem challenges people to look beyond what they expect from our country. We believe sochi2014.ru can become an international symbol of a sporting, social, economic and environmental legacy that lasts for generations." What do you think of it? Via idsgn. UPDATE: OK, yes, several of the letters in "Sochi" have been designed to mirror those in "2014," which could bring to mind a reflection in water, and thus Sochi's location on the Black Sea. I mean, obviously.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Previously on AdFreak:
London unveils logo for the 2012 Olympics
FIFA unveils the World Cup 2010 logo

Published on December 1, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Design, Logos, Nudd, Olympics

Alaska Air chases the gold with Apolo Ohno

"Stewardess, there's something outside the plane! It could be a gremlin, but it sort of looks like Dancing With the Stars winner and champion speed skater Apolo Ohno!" WongDoody's "Follow Apolo" campaign for Alaska Airlines features a plane wrapped in Ohno's image, billboards, banner ads and a Web site, as the carrier sponsors the skater's quest for Olympic gold this winter. They should work Bill Shatner into this. His histrionic yet credible Twilight Zone freakout over a destructive creature on an airplane wing is legendary. It'd be sweet to watch the big ham chew the scenery and hyper-annunciate lines like, "Good Lord! It's ... Apolo ... Oh-NO!"

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Previously on AdFreak:
Alaska Airlines spots stuck in the bathroom

Published on November 18, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Filed under Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Celebrity endorsements, Gianatasio, Olympics

Special Olympics are not really that special

TDA Advertising & Design takes a different approach than might be expected in its first work for the Special Olympics. See two more ads here. All three are designed to suggest the Special Olympics are really no different than any other serious sporting event. Thus, the tagline, "Support great athletes," stresses the universality of competition. The visuals compare slalom courses, ice rinks and finish lines, and the images are identical. Whether the Olympics in question are Special or otherwise, true competitors play to win. The Special Olympics Winter Games are set for Feb. 7-13 in Boise, Idaho.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on January 16, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Gianatasio, Olympics, TDA

The copywriter should probably be arrested

This ad for Ortega has been making the rounds on gossip sites for a few weeks now, but we'd be remiss if we didn't share such a high-water mark in the exploitation of young Olympians. I mean, come on, are we really supposed to believe that no one who wrote, directed, appeared in or approved the ad realized that by saying, "It makes my taco pop!", 16-year-old gymnast Shawn Johnson was going to become a laughingstock? A friend of mine pointed out that if the taco-pop line was so vital to the script, why couldn't one of the two male gymnasts say it? In the end, I have a feeling this was just one of those cases where everyone involved under age 30 kept their mouths shut, suppressed their giggles, and failed to muster the courage to say, "You know, Mr. Ortega, there's a teeny, tiny chance this line might get misinterpreted."

—Posted by David Griner

Published on September 29, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (6)
Filed under Griner, Olympics, Ortega

Nastia Liukin, all-around fabulous endorser

Vanilla Star Jeans has scored Nastia Liukin as the star of its back-to-school campaign for tweens. (Getting a little late for back-to-school ads, doncha think?) With their slogan "Smart girls rock," you might think they'd choose someone known for ... oh, I dunno, being smart? But apparently the Vanilla Star definition of intelligence means having the "ambition" to "live the dream." It's one of the most delightfully vague girl-power statements I've heard in ages, and I have no doubt that tweens adore it. Vanilla Star's president, Mark Levy, claims that in these ads, VSJ "is proud to embrace an 'anti-jean' company philosophy by opposing the trend of exploiting young teens' bodies in its ads." You get that? They're against jeans, and Liukin's body is not being exploited. (Just ignore the impressive splits in those second-skin jeans.) You can check out the posters on the Liukin-filled Web site, but be warned, there's about five different nasty, scripty fonts on there, and you can't stop the music from looping. You can also watch a short video (under "Scholarship") that proves Liukin doesn't have a future in acting.

—Posted by Rebecca Cullers

Published on September 3, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Cullers, Fashion, Olympics, Vanilla Star

Debbie Phelps has become an ad star, too

Behind almost every great Olympic athlete is a dedicated mom. But only one has her own endorsement deals. Debbie Phelps, mother of the greatest Olympian ever, is proving to be a powerful brand in her own right. Johnson & Johnson, a family company, chose Debbie Phelps as the official "Mom of the Olympic Games." The distinction comes with a donation in her name to J&J's global charity program and of course, a sugary-sweet ad, "Thank You from Mom," which played during the Olympic closing ceremonies (and which, I admit, made me tear up like a total sap). Excellent pick, J&J. Debbie received more on-air time than most athletes, including those rowers you sponsored. All that exposure has also had another unexpected side effect: a boom for Chico's, a Florida-based clothing retailer, which has seen a spike in sales since Ms. Phelps wore their line almost exclusively at the Olympics. They're currently in talks to get her as an official partner. Despite the complete lack of a contract or the official right to use her name, Chico's has already added "The Debbie Phelps Collection" to its Web site (along with a horrible low-res picture of Ms. Phelps). Debbie, sweetie, you gotta remember: In this business, don't ever give it away for free.

—Posted by Rebecca Cullers

Published on August 26, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Cullers, J&J, Michael Phelps, Olympics, TV

London prepared to grab Olympic spotlight

The 2008 Olympic Games continue through Sunday in Beijing, but London's tourism officials are already elbowing in and reminding the world where the 2012 Games will be held. Visit London, the official tourism body, is launching a £4m global ad campaign this week from WPP agency RKCR to promote the city as a tourist destination in the lead-up to the 2012 Games. The main image from the campaign is a picture of London taking up the entire globe—an image perhaps inspired by British maps from the glory days of the empire. The tagline is, "See the world. Visit London." James Bidwell, CEO of Visit London, is quoted as saying: "In the words of one of the finest English authors, Samuel Johnson, 'There is in London all that life can afford,' and as we prepare to host the greatest sporting event on earth our campaign shows there is no other place to be than here." The London 2012 committee itself is remaining quiet this week, either out of respect for the Beijing Games or lingering embarrassment over its logo.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on August 20, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (5)
Filed under Nudd, Olympics, RKCR

Which Olympics ads have the best music?

Media saturation for the Olympics is complete now that we have Paste magazine's picks for the 10 Best Songs in Commercials During the Olympics. The list is mostly a who's-who of fading indie credibility. I've always preferred Gabriel Ananda over Enur, who makes the cut for a Target spot set in the kind of giant dorm room only seen on TV. As for the Killers, that “I've got soul but I'm not a soldier” line isn't as clever as they (or Nike) think it is. (The same could be said for their entire discography, pretty much.) Brandi Carlile get props for donating a song to General Motors for green causes, but her sound got old when everyone else in her genre was doing it. I agree with this list's No. 1 choice, though—featured in the ad posted above. It's impossible to knock Marvin Gaye, and Nike's talents for exploitation are well documented.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on August 19, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (4)
Filed under Kiefaber, Olympics, TV

Visa vanquishes rivals with 'Go Phelps' ads

If you've been watching the Olympics, you've seen Visa's "Go World" commercials from TBWA\Chiat\Day, in which the impressive feats of Olympic athletes are recounted in gold-tinted slow motion. They made an impressive number of spots (all viewable at the Go World site), but what really struck me were the three executions specifically created for Michael Phelps that aired right after each of his wins. There was the generic, Michael-isn't-a-dolphin spot, which came after the first few, then the specific congratulations on winning more gold medals than anybody ever, and of course, another one for surpassing Mark Spitz's record with eight golds in one Olympics. In the bevy of ads that followed Phelps's wins, Visa stood out as the only advertiser with a relevant message. The spots were given extra gravitas by narrator Morgan Freeman, who was injured in a car crash recently. So, of course, they were recorded far in advance, even though the footage was turned around in less than a day from Phelps's previous victory. What I wonder is what the ad would have said if Phelps hadn't pulled it off. Did they have a special "You're still crazy-awesome, Michael, and we still love you" commercial ready?

—Posted by Rebecca Cullers

Published on August 18, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (5)
Filed under Cullers, Michael Phelps, Olympics, TBWA, TV, Visa