Nike will break a new ad campaign during Friday's
opening ceremonies on NBC themed "Why sport?," according to
AD AGE. The Wieden & Kennedy campaign shows "unusual
scenarios in which being fit has its benefits." The first
commercial, titled "Horror," features U.S. runner Suzy
Hamilton outrunning a "would-be chainsaw-wielding attacker."
The ad ends with the questions "Why sport?" followed by the
response, "You'll live longer." Another spot has Lance
Armstrong "helping a circus elephant" (AD AGE, 9/13).
AD RAVES: In Atlanta, Patti Bond writes Home Depot will
show its "sensitive side" in a new ad which will debut
Friday night during Opening Ceremonies. The commercial
"captures athletes in their moments of glory and
disappointment." Home Depot Senior VP/Marketing &
Communications Dick Hammill: "We look at the Olympics as an
opportunity to tie into the emotions of the Games ... so we
decided to focus on the athletes and their families"
(ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 9/14)....In San Jose, Deborah Lohse
writes that the advertising around the Games "is about as
traditional as it gets." In buying ad time from NBC,
advertisers "spent almost every advertising dollar on prime-
time network-television spots, as they've done for decades.
Digital age aside, they spent only a small fraction of that
on cable ads, and barely a crumb on Internet ads." In "most
cases," the ads themselves "will be tradition-bound homages
to the age-old Olympic struggle" (S.J. MERCURY NEWS, 9/14).
HELLO, IBM? In Toronto, Craig Daniels reports that
there are "only" 50 computer terminals in the athletes'
village of more than 10,000 athletes, as the World Wide Web
"has become the World Wide Wait." Canadian women's
basketball team member Dianne Norman: "It was bad in
Atlanta, but it's even worse here" (TORONTO SUN, 9/14).
SPONSOR RE-UPS: In Salt Lake City, Mike Gorrell reports
that Japan-based Matsushita Electrical Industrial renewed
its Panasonic brand's TOP sponsorship through 2004. UPS is
the only TOP sponsor yet to renew (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 9/14).
