The More We Get Together
It was with a bit of sadness that I watched the Olympics come to a close this morning in spectacular fashion. For two weeks every four years the world slows to pay attention to the best athletes on the planet. Some will go back to being mega-stars, while others will go back to toiling in obscurity, and some will decide how they might be able to juggle training with med school. Regardless of where they go now they will all remember their two weeks in Beijing. I have always been a big fan of the Olympics; starting with our big medal haul in LA in '84, the roller coaster of Ben Johnson in Seoul, feeling immense redemption as we crowded around a 18" small screen on Graham Ave. to watch Donavan Bailey win gold in '96. I haven't been that excited about a single summer Olympic event until this year when cousin Jane raced. I was as proud to be her cousin as I was proud to be Canadian when Donovan won. What a wonderful feeling.
The Olympics are, of course, much more than games. They are big business; some of the events were scheduled to start at odd hours so it would match up with American prime-time because it is the biggest single television market in the world. It is also a political stage and much was, and will be, said about how this will help or hurt the people of China. It was certainly a wonderful showcase for the formerly reclusive country. But at its very core, the athletes and their competition, little could do more than to give you hope for humanity. These are the best and brightest and it's so nice to see them shake hands after games and mingle at the ceremonies. And It's either as sad testament to my mental state or a hats off to MacDonald's marketing department but, as I sat and thought about the contrast of wars starting in Georgia as the Olympics were on another channel this commercial made the most sense in the world to me:
I will now wait patiently for Vancouver in 2010 and hope that Jane considers giving it one more go in London or that some other cousin steps up.
I will also be wondering how we can broadcast more nursery rhymes for all the world to hear.
Pace out.
Labels: Great moments in Advertising, Jane Rumball, Olympics
posted by Vitamin S @ 11:19 a.m.
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