President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign “has purchased $5.5 million in commercial time” during the coverage of the London Games, according to Bill Carter of the N.Y. TIMES. NBC Sports Group Exec VP/Sales Marketing Seth Winter confirmed the ad purchase by the Obama campaign and advised that both Obama and presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney not go "negative during the three weeks’ worth of thrills of victory and agonies of defeat.” He added that advertising during the Games “should be all about accentuating the positive.” Winter: “What we’ve seen in all of our research is the creative has got to be upbeat. It’s got to be empowering. It’s got to be positive.” Winter said U.S. Sen. (R-Ariz.) and former presidential candidate John McCain prior to the ’08 election “took another tack and I don’t think it served him well.” Winter: “His creative was a little bit on the negative side. And I don’t think it did well. Our research showed it didn’t do well for him.” Carter noted the specifics of when and where the Obama ads will appear during the Games “have yet to be settled, but they are expected to be placed across several platforms.” Winter said that he “expected to be making a deal soon with the Mitt Romney campaign.” Winter: “We never sell out the Olympics. If someone wants more time, we’ll figure it out” (NYTIMES.com, 6/27).
AD SALES GOING STRONG: ADWEEK’s Anthony Crupi noted NBC is “on track to book nearly $1 billion in ad sales revenue" for the Olympics. Winter said that NBC was, for “all intents and purposes, sold out of its available inventory, although he noted that the network always holds back some contingency time.” Winter added that NBC has “lined up dozens of new sponsors for the London Games, a roster of clients that includes Chobani Greek yogurt (an official sponsor of the U.S. Olympic Team) and Fruit of the Loom.” Other confirmed advertisers include McDonald’s, Visa, Procter & Gamble, AT&T and Coca-Cola (ADWEEK.com, 6/27).
