10 Olympic Campaigns that Caught our Eye
Face paint, fandom & fun top the charts in shots' 10 favourite Olympic campaigns from this year.
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Following the Olympics opening ceremony in Rio this weekend, we decided to compile a list of some of this year's most innovative, inspiring and interesting campaigns to promote the sporting event.
From Usain Bolt, wild animals and refugees, this year's top campaigns have focussed on a range of subjects and proved that inspiration can come from anywhere while determination will get you where you want to go. Sounds like this year's Games will be a good one if the ads are anything to go by!
1 Comparing the steely determination of this year's Olympians to wild jungle animals, RKCR/Y&R's spot for BBC Sport - The Greatest Show on Earth - fuses CGI, dramatic music and Rio's Tijuca Forest to show how the athletes have had to prepare for the Games.
2 Ever since he burst onto the sporting scene in 2008, Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt has been an exciting person to watch. So perhaps unsurprisingly, his story has been retold in various ads for this year's Olympics. TBWAChiatDayLos Angeles created this cute animation for Gatorade; The Boy Who Learned to Fly...
3 ...While BBH decided to spotlight Bolt's running achievements and explain what it feels like to hold the world record for running 100m in just 9.58 seconds, in an ad for Virgin Media. The documentary-style spot presents all the different aspects behind making this record a reality.
4 With no flag and no country behind them, the story behind #TeamRefugee - the Olympics' first team made up of refugee athletes - is incredible. When they entered last night's opening ceremony, their entrance was met with a standing ovation with many publicly sharing their support on social media. Just SO/Grey London's emotional spot for UNHCR - #TeamRefugees - tells the story behind their practice.
5 UK broadcaster Channel 4 exceeded expectations with its latest Olympic offering - which continutes its succcessful 2012 Paralympic campaign. We're The Superhumans is bigger and bolder featuring an all-singing, all-dancing and fully capable cast.
6 Greenpoint Pictures' created a series of docu-shorts for online broker TDAmeritrade. The Olympic Hopefuls triptych shows the determination and focus required of athletes for the Games while the final spot in the series invites a group of young emerging athletes to this year's event.
7 If you couldn't make it to Rio but really want to get involved with the event, Critical Mass' Virtual Face Paint App for Nissan - aka Nissan Olympics Die Hard Fan - is one way to work around it. The free-to-download app scans people's faces via their smartphones or tablets and allows you to virtually paint your team's colours onto your face and show your support.
8 KBS' offering for BMW; Built for Gold; is an inspirational minute-long spot that compares the winding roads of Champion in Illinois to the champion spirit of Paralympians.
9 Gilette's Perfect Isn't Pretty from Grey New York shows the reality of fitting in Olympic training around daily life in a hard-hitting yet beautifully-shot spot.
10 Following the success of his Rugby campaign cameo last year, comedian Jack Whitehall returns to the big screen with a Rio-inspired spot from BBH Sport; School of Rio. The series plays on his previous ad success and features Whitehall comically preparing for the Olympic season.
