13 February 2010

Advertising sport as a TV show

The British TV licence fee money is, all told, put to fine use, if the UKers amongst you don't mind me saying so. Take the BBC's promo film for their Winter Olympic coverage, rightly praised by Joy in Mudville:


Good and all as it is, it still doesn't match its counterpart for the 2008 Summer games, made by Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn from Gorillaz:


I've just watched that for the first time in a year and a half, and it's once again put a smile on my face. What's more, all this gives me hope that Auntie Beeb might come up with something stunning to promote the World Cup. I'm looking into the future ... I see ... George's crosses ... lots of George's crosses ... three lions ... a red jersey ... a close-up of Ashley Cole's face ...

Oh.
on

10 comments:

  1. Anonymous13/2/10 10:58 AM

    This one from the 2002 World Cup was pretty cool:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrzVAE-caYw

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  2. Anonymous13/2/10 11:00 AM

    Sorry, I was expecting that to autolinkify.

    this one

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  3. Anonymous13/2/10 11:22 AM

    Actually, though, my prediction for the World Cup promo:

    Ladysmith Black Mambazo and lions. And maybe some smiling African children playing football in bare feet.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Fredorrarci13/2/10 3:25 PM

    Ha! Almost certainly.

    I'd completely forgotten about that 2002 film. Very nice, even if there is too much Links 'n' Hansen 'n' Motty, and altogether too much of Ian Wright.

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  5. Ted Harwood13/2/10 8:21 PM

    Wait, which event is Usain Bolt doing in the Winter Olympics? Hockey, right?

    No?

    I do love hockey, though, at the Olympics.

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  6. Fredorrarci13/2/10 11:52 PM

    Such cynicism!

    With the time difference, my Winter Olympics will revolve around the BBC highlights package, so it'll probably be whatever the British are doing well in. Obviously, I therefore hope their curling teams kick ass.

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  7. Ted Harwood14/2/10 4:51 AM

    I actually really do love the Winter Olympics, but I just don't know that there's a Usain Bolt waiting to happen in them. The hockey is always excellent, though. It's as close as one can get to some platonic ideal of the sport.

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  8. Fredorrarci14/2/10 6:58 PM

    ...I just don't know that there's a Usain Bolt waiting to happen in them.

    I guess not. His next appearance will be on a tortilla somewhere in Mexico, probably.

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  9. NickDunmore16/2/10 6:33 PM

    Even your prediction at the end of the post pales in comparison to the iconography sledgehammer of Setanta's opening for England games.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWKlLkDG3-0

    It's gone now, but there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about it.

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  10. Fredorrarci16/2/10 10:38 PM

    Christ almighty. I was nowhere near ambitious enough, was I?

    I seem to remember an even more bombastic opening sequence for Setanta's first live England game (the 4-1 vs. Croatia, perhaps?). Can't find it, though...

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