Apparently being an official sponsor doesn’t mean you’re a shoe-in for a memorable brand footprint! Just released – 60% of respondents surveyed in China thought that Pepsi was the official drink of the Olympics. Too bad Coca-Cola shelled out all that money to secure their sponsorship!

Pepsi has taken advantage of this with its ‘Everyone can be on the can for China’ campaign , which involved a user-generated content competition. It made no mention of the Olympics, but clearly sought to ride on the attendant wave of nationalism and optimism . According to research by CMR Group conducted in 10 Chinese cities, 60% of respondents thought that Pepsi was the official drink of the Olympics, with only 40% naming the actual sponsor, Coca-Cola . The reason , CMR’s Rein suggests, is that Pepsi was seen as having better marketing campaigns. [source]

I wonder if last years Pepsi campaign where they turned the cans red had anything to do with this?

Sharks:

Chlorine:

Credits:

Advertising Agency: Kinetic, USA

Here’s a great Olympic spin-off. It’s a new campaign called Beer Relay for Tooheys Beer. They show us beer drinkers from across the globe as they participate in an international Beer Relay. The one above is my favorite, it’s titled Paco, he’s part of the European relay. The commentary by his friend is hilarious! That and when he explains:

When I return I will be a man…. I hope my mother doesn’t try to follow me.

There’s one other commercial in this series that’s been released so far, it can be found below.

Tooheys – Beer Relay – Jerry:

Credits:

Client: Tooheys
Title: Beer Relay – Jerry & Paco
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi AU
Executive Creative Director: Steve Back
Creative Director: David Bowman
Senior Copywriter: Steve Jackson
Senior Art Director: Vincent Lagnana
Agency Producer: William Doig
Production Company: @radical.media
Director: The Glue Society
Executive Producer: Rob Galluzzo
Producer: Catherine Chapple
DP: Danny Ruhlmann
Editor: Cut & Run – Adam Jenkins
Visual Effects: Fuel
Production Designer: Deborah RIley
Music: Nylon Studios

Here’s an Olympic-themed AT&T Yellow Pages commercial where the hosts use random house-hold objects instead of traditional party supplies. The Olympics are on the TV that everyone is crowded around in the background, so one can only assume it’s a party to watch the Olympic Games.

Credits:

Client: AT&T Yellow Pages
Title: Party
Agency: GSD&M Idea City
Executive Creative Director: Mark Taylor
Group Creative Directors: Steve Miller, Brent Ladd
Art Director: Bryan Pudder
Writer: Mark Ray
Executive Producer: Karen Jacobs
Prod Company: MJZ
Director: Rocky Morton
Editor: Jon Hopp

To commemorate this occasion, I have put together a quick ‘n’ dirty set of three alltop badges.
Feel free to use them (a shout-out would be appreciated)!

Mini Cooper Rickshaws in Beijing

Here’s a clever campaign done by Mini Cooper to promote their cars during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Found across Beijing, they have rickshaws with converted passenger cars to resemble Mini Coopers.

Here’s the Derek Redmond commercial for Visa’s Go World campaign.

Credits:

Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles
Advertiser: Visa International
Brand: Visa Credit Cards
Tagline: Go World
Voice: Morgan Freeman

Here’s another Visa created commercial for their 2008 Olympic Games “Go World” campaign. Narrated by Morgan Freeman.

Credits:

Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles
Advertiser: Visa International
Brand: Visa Credit Cards
Tagline: Go World
Voice: Morgan Freeman

Here’s a Visa commercial titled, Immortal, featuring narration by Morgan Freeman. This is part of their 2008 Olympic Games “Go World” campaign.

Credits:

Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles
Advertiser: Visa International
Brand: Visa Credit Cards
Tagline: Go World
Voice: Morgan Freeman

Here’s the Bryan Clay commercial for Visa’s Go World campaign.

Credits:

Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles
Advertiser: Visa International
Brand: Visa Credit Cards
Tagline: Go World
Voice: Morgan Freeman