Virgin Media Launches Ads Paying Tribute To Usain Bolt During Wales-Portugal

Virgin Media aired a TV ad paying tribute to Usain Bolt "as the world’s fastest man looks to make history at the Olympic Games in Rio," according to Mark Sweney of the London GUARDIAN. The 100-second TV ad, narrated by fellow sprinter Michael Johnson, launched during Wednesday’s Euro 2016 quarterfinal match between Wales and Portugal on ITV. It uses "a series of sequences that are 9.58 seconds long -- the world record 100m time" Bolt set in '09. Unusually the TV ad, "part of a wider multimillion-pound ad campaign, does not push a specific Virgin Media package." Virgin Media Chief Marketing Officer Kerris Bright said, "It is designed to be a celebration. A celebration of speed. We wanted to tell a different type of story about Usain Bolt." The campaign, which runs with the strapline "Be the Fastest," included a stunt on the river Thames involving the London Eye "and a 100m long video screen to recreate his 9.58 second sprint" (GUARDIAN, 7/6).