Olympics commercials

[MaryMitch]

I hate this commercial - I get that it takes a lot of dedication to be an elite athlete, but this commercial goes against everything the Olympics is supposed to stand for. It totally ignores sportsmanship and the joy of excellence.

 

But the look on that paraolympian near the end is kinda epic.

 

[Makai]

1 hour ago, MaryMitch said:

I hate this commercial - I get that it takes a lot of dedication to be an elite athlete, but this commercial goes against everything the Olympics is supposed to stand for. It totally ignores sportsmanship and the joy of excellence.

 

But the look on that paraolympian near the end is kinda epic.

 

Whoever chose this as their Olympic campaign should be fired but having William Dafoe do the narration was brilliant. It’s like a Green Goblin villain monologue.

Nike should have stuck with the, “Watch where we’re going” campaign.

 

[Girl in a Cardigan]

I'm currently annoyed by the one asking AI to write a fan letter to an athlete on behalf of his kid. Like if you can't be arsed to write the fan letter yourself, why do it?

I'm against generative AI for a lot of reasons, but this is one of the dumbest ads I've seen a while. By the time he finished giving the prompt to the bot, he could have written the stupid fan letter. Or just don't do it at all and I'm sure the athlete doesn't care.

[Souris]

7 hours ago, Girl in a Cardigan said:

I'm currently annoyed by the one asking AI to write a fan letter to an athlete on behalf of his kid. Like if you can't be arsed to write the fan letter yourself, why do it?

I'm against generative AI for a lot of reasons, but this is one of the dumbest ads I've seen a while. By the time he finished giving the prompt to the bot, he could have written the stupid fan letter. Or just don't do it at all and I'm sure the athlete doesn't care.

Came here to say exactly this! What an awful, cynical commercial masquerading as sweet and uplifting. I could spit fire about the perils of AI all day, but to present an AI-written letter as preferable to heartfelt, genuine words from a child to her hero? That is MESSED UP.

[emma675]

Ugh, the AI one.

I have enjoyed one by Lilly (the pharmaceutical company). It talks about bodies, shapes and sizes, overcoming illness and injury, and features athletes and regular people trying to live their best lives. It was uplifting.

[Bastet]

14 hours ago, Girl in a Cardigan said:

I'm currently annoyed by the one asking AI to write a fan letter to an athlete on behalf of his kid. Like if you can't be arsed to write the fan letter yourself, why do it?

I'm against generative AI for a lot of reasons, but this is one of the dumbest ads I've seen a while. By the time he finished giving the prompt to the bot, he could have written the stupid fan letter. Or just don't do it at all and I'm sure the athlete doesn't care.

Ugh, I am enraged by this commercial every time it comes on, which is unfortunately quite often on Hulu, so not even during Olympics coverage.  Like you, I'm opposed on general principle, but specifically perturbed by this particular ad for the AI service.  Hey, Dad, how 'bout YOU help your daughter write a letter?  One that's personal, so actually means something.  Ask her what she likes about the athlete, if she thinks about her while practicing to motivate her, etc. and use those answers to help her write a letter of appreciation.

Edited July 29 by Bastet

[StatisticalOutlier]

6 hours ago, emma675 said:

I have enjoyed one by Lilly (the pharmaceutical company).

I'm put off by their attempt to rebrand themselves from "pharmaceutical" to "a medicine company." 

[Bastet]

I like the Comcast commercial about some things (in this case sportsmanship) being more important than winning, with kids modeling what they see.  I can't find it on YouTube to embed, but here it is on Vimeo.

[MaryMitch]

6 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I like the Comcast commercial about some things (in this case sportsmanship) being more important than winning, with kids modeling what they see.  I can't find it on YouTube to embed, but here it is on Vimeo.

Thank you! I was looking for that; I wanted to post it in the first post in this thread to show the contrast between that ad and the Nike ad.

[WhitneyWhit]

I guess this is ok to ask here but are they not saying the John Williams them they’ve always used to announce sponsors  before going to commercial break? I don’t feel like I’ve heard it yet. 

[mojoween]

When did we decide that it’s ok to show commercials during active points in sporting events?

Like I get if five guys are standing on the pitcher’s mound talking about pizza, but there are natural breaks during beach volleyball.  We don’t need a split screen of ads while the ladies are playing.

[Girl in a Cardigan]

Yesterday during Women's qualification, they would throw to commercials in the middle of a commentator's sentence or the middle of a replay. Like there are only four athletes per rotation - you can't wait 20 minutes for a commercial break???

[Shrek]

Commercial airtime is usually sold in blocks of time & there may be penalties if some of them from the big sponsors are not run at or between certain times.

It's the reason that the USA soccer authorities tried to change the rules way back years ago (NY Cosmos days) to 4 quarters rather than 2 half's, so they could sell more advertising time, FIFA the governing body told them no way was that happening if they wanted to be part of FIFA.

Edited July 30 by Shrek

[chitowngirl]

2 hours ago, Shrek said:

It's the reason that the USA soccer authorities tried to change the rules way back years ago (NY Cosmos days) to 4 quarters rather than 2 half's, so they could sell more advertising time, FIFA the governing body told them no way was that happening if they wanted to be part of FIFA.

Off Olympic topic reply-Of course the USA would try to change a world sport so they can monetize it! 

[BuckeyeLou]

I think it is an ad for Dick's Sporting Goods:  a little girl in backseat of a car & she says "I made the Team!"...her little face is so cute & happy, it always makes me tear up.

[Good Queen Jane]

Am I a bad person if I yell “Yes, you are!”  every time the Nike commercial asks “Am I a bad person?”

[MaryMitch]

14 hours ago, BuckeyeLou said:

I think it is an ad for Dick's Sporting Goods:  a little girl in backseat of a car & she says "I made the Team!"...her little face is so cute & happy, it always makes me tear up.

Dick's always has great commercials IMO, and they often feature female athletes. Their President and CEO is a woman, Lauren Hobart.

 

This is one of my faves from the Tokyo Olympics:

 

Edited July 31 by MaryMitch

[satrunrose]

Canada's big telecom, Bell, has had some nice commercials this time around. My favourite is one that starts with two kids picking teams for a soccer game and they're calling on everybody, olympians, paralympians, special olympians, sports announcers and it cuts from hundreds of people running to join this soccer game to Christine Sinclair with her gold medal, kind of bouncing up and down and looking hopeful. She doesn't get picked until the end of the commercial where she lets out a big "Finally!". It's really cute and I like the message that everyone belongs to team Canada.

[roseha]

I have to say that I really like the one for Visa with Simone Biles and her sister, it's just a lot more fun to watch just because you know it really is her sister and they are having fun making it.

 

[satrunrose]

So Ozempic is one of the major sponsors of the Canadian broadcast, BUT Canadian drug advertising laws say you can either talk about the disease (and not mention the drug) or talk about the drug, but not mention anything about what it's for. This means those of us watching on CBC are treated to about a million "Is Ozempic right for you? Ask your doctor." so deeply annoying (although seeing the full length commercials on US channels, I suppose it could be much worse).

[tljgator]

On 7/28/2024 at 5:16 AM, Girl in a Cardigan said:

I'm currently annoyed by the one asking AI to write a fan letter to an athlete on behalf of his kid. Like if you can't be arsed to write the fan letter yourself, why do it?

I'm against generative AI for a lot of reasons, but this is one of the dumbest ads I've seen a while. By the time he finished giving the prompt to the bot, he could have written the stupid fan letter. Or just don't do it at all and I'm sure the athlete doesn't care.

Good news, everyone! '“While the ad tested well before airing, given the feedback, we have decided to phase the ad out of our Olympics rotation,” a Google spokesperson told the publication.'

Currently enjoying the Publix ad ... they do fabulous holiday commercials every year, so I'm not surprised it's good: 

 

[StatisticalOutlier]

21 hours ago, roseha said:

I have to say that I really like the one for Visa with Simone Biles and her sister, it's just a lot more fun to watch just because you know it really is her sister and they are having fun making it.

I contrast that with the one I saw with Biles and her mother for Mounjaro (although I don't know that it qualifies for discussion here because I'm not sure it's an "Olympic" commercial). 

I don't begrudge them going for every dime, and maybe Mounjaro is effectively treating her mother's diabetes, but I really don't think any of those drugs need advertising.

[surfgirl]

The only two commercials I can recall this Games is that dumb one with thebAI letter writing, and Reeses medal shaped, why Reesea why?!? 

[Quickbeam]

This is Wisconsin specific but a local health care company Aurora has run the same commercial a billion times. And they suck (I’ve worked there) so it’s an automatic mute or bathroom break. Maybe they should be taking out fewer ads and paying their staff better. Harrumph.

[roseha]

If you really are hating on these commercials and have Peacock I have noticed that at least some of the replays are commercial free.  I have been watching the replay of today's gymnastics with the world feed (British commentators) and not a commercial in sight.  I've noticed that Watch ESPN sometimes runs replays without commercials also though in their case I wonder if they have somehow forgotten to do it.

[yowsah1]

I just caught the tail end of ad by I think Toyota where a little girl enters a Breakdancing training facility early in the morning by herself as her father watches proudly from the car.  Anybody got any idea where I can find the full ad?

[surfgirl]

Where I am, there is a horrible ad that's been playing as nauseum during the Games. It's a sad sack ad with a sad sack song about how it's been too long and it's time for change, whining about various prices (gas, food, electric) and it's just whinging like we're in a huge depression, and that's it. At the end it says it's paid for by something like The Natural Petroleum Group or some such bullshit. I mute the TV every time it's on but I'm going to start changing the channel in protest. 

I saw the Manjauro ad with Simone and her mom. Good fir them making hat while the sun shines!

[blueray]

On 7/31/2024 at 10:01 AM, Good Queen Jane said:

Am I a bad person if I yell “Yes, you are!”  every time the Nike commercial asks “Am I a bad person?”

This one annoys me. And there is another Nike ad where they are like "everyone isn't a winner". But it's said in a mean way.

Edited August 5 by blueray
spelling

[Girl in a Cardigan]

A nice antidote to that commercial is this one I just noticed from Comcast:

 

[Good Queen Jane]

What is Nike thinking? The newest one I saw focuses on a runner with the narrator talking about all the hard work and sacrifices he made to get there and then he is passed by another runner and basically called a loser. Even worse, the first runner is black and the runner who passes him is white! Really, Nike? 
 

ETA: The tag line is “To get here. And by here I mean second.” Go away, Nike.

Edited August 5 by Good Queen Jane

[surfgirl]

Just saw the Omega 'Born to be a Legendary, its pretty fucking awesome!

[Notabug]

13 hours ago, surfgirl said:

Just saw the Omega 'Born to be a Legendary, its pretty fucking awesome!

It sure is.  The idea and the use of Parisian landmarks is genius.  Here's a link to the commercial in French, but you'll get the idea.

Omega Born to be a Legend

[Good Queen Jane]

Nike finally has a commercial I like: the one with the wrestler without legs. See, Nike, it wasn’t that hard to promote your Winning Isn’t For Everyone slogan without being obnoxious and actually being inspirational. 

[skipnjump]

On 8/2/2024 at 5:51 PM, StatisticalOutlier said:

I contrast that with the one I saw with Biles and her mother for Mounjaro (although I don't know that it qualifies for discussion here because I'm not sure it's an "Olympic" commercial). 

I don't begrudge them going for every dime, and maybe Mounjaro is effectively treating her mother's diabetes, but I really don't think any of those drugs need advertising.

The bad thing about that ad for me, is that if you read the small print at the bottom of the ad, it says that Nellie Biles doesn't use Mounjaro.  But the ad makes it look like she does.  😒

[surfgirl]

I'm watching the Equestrian Individual Jumping Finals and just saw three back to back ads for Hermes, the last one with Jessica von Bredow-Werndyl, and they were so good! Did anyone else see them?

[wanderingstar]

The Google Gemini ads are sending me around the bend.

[surfgirl]

Saw my first Coke ad tonight, wonder why?

[Browncoat]

I love that commercial where Riley makes the team. 

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 8/9/2024 at 9:59 AM, skipnjump said:

The bad thing about that ad for me, is that if you read the small print at the bottom of the ad, it says that Nellie Biles doesn't use Mounjaro.  But the ad makes it look like she does.  😒

I saw the ad again and confirmed that it says in the small print that neither Simone nor Nellieuses Mounjaro.  Twice. 

Man, this is really low, even by advertising standards.  And even by pharmaceutical advertising standards.