Visa Rolls Out Congratulatory Ad For Phelps
Talk about being confident. And ready.
When swimming sensation Michael Phelps earned his 10th gold medal Wednesday morning in Beijing by winning the 200-meter butterfly, credit card giant Visa didn’t just smile about having him in its endorsement portfolio.
It unveiled a brand-new, 30-commercial. Just like that.
The spot, called “Congratulations Phelps” and long in the planning, aired on NBC at the first commercial break following his victory.
It’s part of the “Go World” motif, with sepia tones evoking iconic Olympic images and features actor Morgan Freeman as the narrator. TBWA/Chiat/Day (Los Angeles) is the creative agency behind Go World.
Indeed, the spot closes with the image of Phelps that’s sure to endure; him screaming at the top of his powerful lungs as he celebrated the U.S. team’s gold-medal performance in the 400-meter freestyle relay on Monday.
That’s the race in which Jason Lezak turned in a hellacious anchor leg to preserve Phelps’ drive for eight golds.
Phelps’ agent, Peter Carlisle, said he began pitching Visa on the idea of doing a commemorative spot in 2006 at the Pan-Pacific Championships. He saw it as a way to memorialize Phelps’ achievement, which was in jeopardy of being overlooked because of media focus on the swimmer surpassing Mark Spitz’s single-Games gold-medal record.
“Everyone is thinking about eight and seven (golds),” said Carlisle, who was in attendance at the Water Cube for Phelps’ historic swim. “Some people worry he’ll be a failure if he doesn’t, so you have to counter that. This was a way to memorialize what is already a significant achievement.”
