The Ioc's "celebrate Humanity" Campaign

Synopsis
A series of eight ads plugging the 2002 Winter Games, featuring voice-overs by Robin Williams and highlighted by footage of such past Olympic luminaries as the 1988 Jamaican bobsled team (tumbling to Bob Marley's Coming in from the Cold).

BACKGROUND
Though NBC plans to promote the Games vigorously (to put it mildly), the IOC nonetheless wanted to reinforce its brand through an estimated $150 million campaign. The emphasis on perseverance and fair play is clearly intended to erase the taint from the scandals that have dogged the Salt Lake Games and the IOC. Additionally, two of the ads are designed to hook younger viewers: one titled I am an Olympian, with background music by Radiohead, and another featuring quick-cut footage of snowboarders and freestyle skiers over tunes by the French techno group Daft Punk. "Younger generations tend to be more cynical about the Games," says Lee Clow, chairman of TBWA\Worldwide, the agency that produced the ads. "Sports like snow-boarding and freestyle skiing seemed appropriate for that audience."

BOTTOM LINE
Do we really need more syrupy spots preaching Olympic values? Still, give the IOC points for landing Radiohead. Says Clow of the melancholy Brits, who okayed use of their music without compensation after seeing the ad, "Had it been a paid spot, they would never have done it."