It’s been just five minutes since England football fans were still dreaming and our screens were joyful with Adidas’ Hey Jude ad. But fear not, with the Olympics kicking off tonight (what a summer of sport by the way!), here’s a round-up of the Olympic ads that will warm the cockles of your heart.
They won’t just give you that warm fuzzy feeling because they pull on your heartstrings, but more than ever this time around, the ads are headed up by women.
It’s great to see so many marketers using women to champion their cause but of course, money talks. Across the globe, many women’s sports have seen a remarkable increase in attention and ratings, a fact that has led many brands to hire female athletes.
Perhaps this is only fitting when, for the first time, there will be an equal number of male and female athletes competing: the 1900 Games were the first to welcome women when just two per cent of the athletes were female, competing in tennis and golf alone.
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola has drawn on the Olympic spirit of togetherness for its ad this time. It focuses on South African swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker who, after breaking the world record for the 200m breaststroke in Tokyo 2020, was embraced by her competitors for her success.
The advert fast-forwards to this Olympics and shows her being hugged by her peers again. This warmth spreads across the world, leading to people from all walks of life turning to others for a cuddle.
Sephora
Luxury beauty brand Sephora has launched its ‘Beauty and Sport’ campaign leveraging the company’s network of shops across France. Its focus will be around 50 outlets along the Olympic Torch Relay route and it will also open pop-up stores in major cities.
Often more akin to a nightclub with security guards, queues out of the door and pumping music, the brand will continue this theme by offering games and prizes – some of which will be tickets to specific events at the games.
Athletes who win will also have the opportunity to visit a makeup artist before their podium moment.
Nike
Nike’s campaign focuses on boxer Cindy Ngamba who became the first member of the Refugee Olympic Team to join Nike’s athlete roster.
She left Cameroon aged 11 and now trains in the UK where she’s a three-time national boxing champion.
By focusing on the loaded question, ‘Where are you really from,’ the campaign focuses on the uncomfortable truth that refugee athletes are often defined by their past rather than their future and their sporting success.
This is not a flash-in-the-pan campaign for Nike as it is a long-term partner of the Olympic Refugee Committee, and also supports the Paris-based programme Terrains d’Avenir’s which gives women and girls greater access to sport.
Powerade
It would be impossible and indeed unforgivable to write about women and the Olympics without mentioning Simone Biles.
After her heartbreak in Tokyo, when her mind and body were out of sync giving her what was referred to as a case of the ‘twisties’, she’s back with a vengeance if the Netflix documentary is to be believed.
The new Powerade ad called, ‘The Vault’ features Biles zoning out the cacophony of media noise and taking a moment to reflect on her struggles and focus on herself. Similar to the Nike offering, this beautifully filmed ad, challenges us to see the person behind the athlete.
In a poignant touch, Powerade will be providing a safe space within the Olympic Village for athletes to mentally prepare for the competition and have conversations about mental health.
Aldi
Kevin the Carrot, or should I say ‘Kévin La Carotte’, makes his first appearance outside of a Christmas ad to promote the supermarket’s sponsorship of Team GB. The ad, starring rower and flag bearer, Helen Glover, sees Kevin save the day by being a surprising stand-in for the missing Olympic torch.
In complete juxtaposition to the ads above, to the soundtrack of Chariots of Fire, Kevin parachutes into the games using a pair of Y fronts! Makes you proud to be British!
Good luck to all the athletes competing – especially Team GB’s women!
