LOCOG partner adidas "has pulled off a perfectly timed bit of brand placement" in a two-and-a-half minute clip featuring a host of Team GB athletes rocking out to Queen, according to Lizzy Davies of the London GUARDIAN. To the jubilant sounds of "Don't Stop Me Now," we see track athlete Jessica Ennis strumming a ping pong paddle, cyclist Victoria Pendleton dressed as a coquettish tiger, and gymnast Louis Smith "where he belongs, looking into the camera and feeling for all the world like he's back on X Factor." Also in the mix are boxing champion Nicola Adams, cyclist Chris Hoy, rower Pete Reed, high jumper Robert Grabarz, the Brownlee brothers, and a whole host of Olympians "engaged in some form of lip-synching or percussion." David Beckham finds himself "relegated to a mere supporting role as director." Adidas said it had made the video "to bring the curtain down on what has been a great Games for the brand." It described it as "a unique video toasting the success of the team and capturing the mood of the nation" (GUARDIAN, 8/12).
CAPITALIZE ON OLYMPICS: Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer drew a positive conclusion of the firm's involvement in the London Games. Hainer: "Our presence in and around the Olympic Games was fantastic. It translates into record Olympic merchandise sales and a record year for the adidas Group in the U.K. This clearly sets the stage for us to achieve market leadership in the U.K. by 2015." Spurred by demand for Olympic and Team GB products, sales in the U.K. for the company were up 24% currency-neutral for the first half of '12. Olympic license product sales in the U.K. were up 250% compared to Beijing in '08. On a global level, adidas group sales increased 11% on a currency-neutral basis or 16% in euro terms to €7.3B ($8.9B) for the first half of '12. As official sportswear partner of London 2012, the company outfitted more than 80,000 Games makers with sustainable products, supplying kit for 3,000 athletes competing in 25 out of the 26 Olympic sports and by working together with 11 national Olympic committees, among them the most successful Team GB of all times. Hainer said, "I can only admire the enthusiasm Great Britain brought to these Olympic Games" (adidas).
MOVE IT: Also in London, Mark Sweney reported that the BBC "was forced to reposition cameras" in its Olympic Park studio, after giving free advertising to "controversial" TOP sponsor Dow Chemical in the buildup to the Opening Ceremony. The BBC production staff "had to make the hurried adjustment" after a Dow Chemical giant billboard wrap on the outside of the Westfield Stratford shopping center was "clearly visible" to viewers through the studio window, which breaks the broadcaster's editorial guidelines (GUARDIAN, 8/10).
