I love the Olympics. I have since I was 10 years old. I know because it was 1976 when I fell in love. We had just arrived at the beach for our summer vacation and it was pouring rain. For a whole day and night, for two days and nights, big, fat, heavy rain fell with no sign of stopping. “No way it can rain for seven straight days,” I told my parents. It didn’t. It rained for eight.
Fortunately, it was also the last week of the ‘76 Summer Olympics in Montreal and ABC Sports was all over it. Day and night, while the monsoon raged outside, I sat transfixed as 14-year-old Nadia Comaneci scored seven perfect 10s in gymnastics. The U.S. dominated the boxing ring as five Americans including Sugar Ray Leonard and the Spinks brothers took home gold medals. Edwin Moses won gold on the way to a world record in the 400m hurdles while John Naber took four golds in the pool. Most notably for America, Bruce Jenner claimed the title of “World’s Greatest Athlete” setting a new record in the Decathlon with 8,634 points. It was all magic and I couldn’t get enough.
Now, 40 years later, despite the boycotts, the scandals, and the unfinished venues, I still love the Olympics. Like the rest of the country, I’ve sat through two years of NBC promos and I’m ready to light that torch in Rio setting off two and a half weeks of passion, competition and national pride. Oh, and a slew of commercials. (NBC has to make back the billions they paid for the Olympics somehow.)
Some will be terrible. Some will be brilliant. For me, these 10 are the best of the best!
10. NIKE: Fight Song
Against the backdrop of Rachel Platten’s “Fight Song,” we see a mix of vignettes featuring babies and kids in the beginning stages of their training. Young swimmers and runners. Basketball and Soccer players who promise to become the future champions we will all be cheering for in 2032, 2028, 2024, 2020 and in this Olympiad. Sweet and simple. End line – “Your Future Is What You Make It. We’re Just Happy To Help.”
9. SAMSUNG: The Anthem
We open on a young woman looking out over the ocean, singing a song into her cell phone. One by one, she connects with people from all around the world who join her in an Olympic song with lyrics compiled from pieces of each country’s national anthem. It’s a beautiful spot that reminds us that while we all come from very different places on earth, at heart, we are also very much alike. It is the embodiment of the Olympic ideal. End line - “Proud Sponsor Of A World Without Barriers.”
8. UNDER ARMOUR: Rule Yourself – USA Women’s Gymnastics
This is the first of two spots in the Under Armour “Rule Yourself” series that made the top 10 and if you didn’t have respect for the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics team and how hard they train every day before, you will after watching this spot. What these young women are able to do is nothing short of extraordinary, as is this spot. These girls are the best in the world for a reason. End line - “It’s What You Do In The Dark, That Puts You In The Light.”
7. BBC Sport: Rio 2016
Our first of two international entries comes from the BBC. This fun, inventive spot imagines the athletes coming to Rio as a rainforest full of Olympic caliber athletes competing in the marquis events coming up at the 2016 Summer Games. The animation is breathtaking and just fun to watch, over and over. From the eye open at the beginning, to the shot against the waterfall, I particularly love the crocodilian synchronized divers, but pick your favorite from the sloths, monkeys, black panthers and others. End Line - “The Greatest Show On Earth.”
6. GATORADE: Young At Heart
To excel at the Olympic level, you can’t just like the sport you play. You have to love it with every fiber of your being. The kind of love you felt for it when you were just a kid and didn’t know any better. That is the heart of this great spot from Gatorade featuring Serena Williams, Usain Bolt and others being “trained up” by their younger selves, all backed by the great Jimmy Durante singing “Young At Heart.” End line - “The Best Never Lose That Love.”
5. TEAM CANADA: Ice In Our Veins
Our second of two international spots comes from Canada who plays their icy landscape and persona to perfection. Like the Canadian athletes it highlights, the art direction is a mixture of fire and ice featuring the stunning frozen vistas of Canada and a group of the Olympians who will represent them in track, swimming, diving, kayaking, boxing, tennis and volleyball. The music track and SFX are fantastic as is this entire spot. End Line - “Ice In Our Veins.”
4. SAMSUNG: The Chant
What is the voice inside of elite athletes that drives them to greatness? For one young girl in South Sudan (and later, as her adult self), it is the voice of her country chanting her name. “Margaret! Margaret! Margaret!” This simple, beautiful spot is one continuous build – Margaret’s walk from her childhood to the edge of the Olympic track in Rio. We don’t know if Margaret is the favorite, or the underdog, or how she places. And it doesn’t matter. For her, it’s not the destination, but the journey and her pursuit of the Olympic dream that matters. End line - “Proud Sponsor Of Those Who Defy Barriers.”
BRONZE. VISA: The Carpool To Rio
Unlike most brands that went for heartfelt, VISA rolled with smart humor and it works. For the last four years, we’ve heard the world is coming to Rio and in this spot, we see that literally taking place as Olympic athletes from the US, Canada and around the world, carpool, swim, sprint, cycle and back handspring their way toward Rio with fun visual gags thrown in throughout. Really nice addition including the wheelchair athletes and the equestrians. End line - “VISA. Everywhere You Want To Be.”
SILVER. UNDER ARMOUR: Rule Yourself – Michael Phelps
Every four years we live for Olympic performances that last for mere minutes with outcomes decided by seconds. This extraordinary spot from Under Armour features the best art direction of any spot in the cycle. In it, we see a glimpse into just what Michael Phelps has gone through to get back to world class form for his 5th Olympic games. One look at the endless pool with the single lit lane surrounded by darkness is a stark reminder that while the rest of us were sleeping, the greatest swimmer of all time was swimming by himself, in the dark, so he could be the first to touch in that last thousandth of a second, just one more time. End line - “It’s What You Do In The Dark, That Puts You In The Light.”
GOLD. PROCTOR & GAMBLE: Thank You Mom – Strong
Cutting back and forth between the past and the present, athletes in training and in their moment of competition, hear the calming, reassuring, loving voices of their Mothers. The same words that calmed them earlier in their lives when confronting a tornado, a car accident, a blackout, air turbulence and bullying. Exquisitely shot and perfectly acted and edited, this spot is never sappy, or maudlin. It is emotionally authentic and simply beautiful in every way. My favorite Olympic spot of the year. The end line - “It Takes Someone Strong To Make Someone Strong. Thank You, Mom.”
BONUS: NBC Olympics Video featuring “Rise” by Katy Perry
For an editor, I can’t imagine anything better than cutting a video like this featuring gorgeous shots of the world’s greatest athletes doing what they do with emotional calls from sportscasters and an intoxicating track from Katy Perry. The concept of “Rising” is the perfect embodiment of the Olympic spirit. Whether winning the Gold Medal, or picking yourself up after falling short, the Olympics are all about rising to the moment and getting back up time, and time, and time again. As wonderful as Whitney Houston’s “One Moment In Time” was, it had grown very tired over the last few games. “Rise” is a worthy sister song and it’s a good thing. We’re going to hear it A LOT over the next three weeks and beyond. Enjoy!
