The IOC "unveiled its first major advertising campaign
designed to refocus the world on the Games and the
athletes," according to Kathryn Kranhold of the WALL STREET
JOURNAL, who writes that the campaign's TV spots, created by
Omnicom's TBWA/Chiat/Day, make "no mention" of the IOC and
instead features "significant" Olympic moments dating back
to Jesse Owens' appearance in the '36 Games in Berlin. IOC
Marketing Dir Michael Payne "wouldn't disclose how much
money is being spent" on the campaign, but he did say that
the committee "won't have to pay any money to have the spots
aired because of its existing deals with networks and radio
stations around the world." One spot includes a shot of
Bulgarian weightlifter Yoto Yotov, a silver medalist at the
'92 Games in Barcelona, with an announcer saying: "Someone
once said you don't win your silver; you lose your gold.
Obviously they've never won silver." The spot is a response
to Nike's "controversial" Olympic campaign created by Wieden
& Kennedy that stated that "competitors don't win silver;
they lose gold." All spots contain a voice-over pro bono by
actor Robin Williams (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/19). The spots
will be seen "primarily" in the U.S. on NBC beginning later
this month and will run through the Summer Games in Sydney,
which begin on September 15 (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 1/19).
The ads will be "presented in English, French and Spanish in
all countries where the Games are broadcast" (TORONTO STAR,
1/19). The total media support for the campaign "is
expected to be worth more than" $150M (AD AGE, 1/18 issue).
