Virgin Media, Nissan Release Ad Campaigns Featuring Usain Bolt Ahead Of Rio Games

Virgin Media ahead of the Rio Games is presenting a campaign around "the importance of speed" and its broadband service by marketing around Usain Bolt's world-record time in the 100 meters at the '09 Berlin World Championships, according to David Gianatasio of ADWEEK. The campaign, via BBH, London, "presents a short film comprising 10 separate 9.58-second vignettes." Narrated by former U.S. sprinter Michael Johnson, "each segment focuses on a different aspect of Bolt's life and experience." Though some elements of the film, "like Bolt's painful training regimen, are fairly predictable, others -- such as the joyous scenes of him cutting loose on the dance floor, and shots of the transcendent adoration of his hometown fans -- really make the spot pop." A pair of "lighthearted animated sequences are especially effective." One "casts a school-age Bolt as a video-game character, while the other portrays him as a Marvel-style comic-book superhero" (ADWEEK.com, 7/7). Meanwhile, Nissan on Thursday released its "Bolt vs. Flame" campaign, a two-minute film that shows Bolt being challenged to contend against the speed of a flame. The film is supported by a global social media campaign, featuring a series of 9.58 second videos and movie posters created from 19,000 matchsticks being lit on fire. Additional footage featuring Bolt will be released throughout July. The campaign is being supported through a paid social effort across Brazil (Nissan).