Jamaican Sprinter Usain Bolt Stars In New Virgin Media Broadband Ad Campaign

Virgin Media "is to launch a new ad" starring Olympic Gold Medalist sprinter Usain Bolt Monday "in a bid to demonstrate how much faster the telecom giant's broadband is than other providers," according to Maisie McCabe of CAMPAIGN LIVE. In the campaign, created by Bartle Bogle Hegarty, "Virgin Media pits Bolt against a slow and inefficient challenger called Blot, representing Virgin Media’s fibre-optic broadband network and other providers’ DSL-based services respectively." One TV ad "will show Bolt and Blot racing with a movie reel in their hands to represent viewers waiting for a film to download." After Virgin Group Founder Richard Branson "starts the race with a gun, Bolt gets to the finish line long before Blot." Branson also stars in the second ad, which shows Bolt and Blot "powerlifting a bar that represents people using the internet on their laptops, tablets and smartphones." Once again Bolt wins, Branson "gives him a thumbs up and the sprinter relaxes" (CAMPAIGN LIVE, 7/1).