Bring home the gold

Last week I wrote a blog about Olympic advertisements for Sochi 2014. There were advertisements that I liked and then there were advertisements that I half-liked, or like, not at all.

However, when it comes to advertisements, particularly commercial advertisements for the Olympics, I’m drawn to ones that have to do with the Paralympics.

Channel 4 had an amazing commercial for Paralympics that was shown at the Cannes Lions last year.

The commercial has Public Enemy’s “Harder Than You Think” playing to gritty shots of Paralympians exemplifying their strength in the stadium, in the water and in the gym—it demands your rapt attention.

The commercial successfully makes you forget entirely that these athletes have a disability. It’s the core message that their disability is not a crutch or weakness, but empowerment for them.

I remember feeling shivers and being unable to look away. I also felt immediately inspired by the athletes who looked back at you with defiance and assurance that you needn’t pity them.

Samsung recently released a commercial that Adweek describes as “real, raw and pitiless”.

 It continues the theme that one’s disability is not limiting and that Paralympians who participate in the games are not going to make a statement, but to win.

The commercial shows a number of different Paralympians’ lives and how each prepares to practice and succeed in their respective sport.

It shows how each athlete deals with same doubts and fears before a big game. It also continues to close the gap between athletes with disabilities and athletes without disabilities because the goal of the Olympics and the Paralympics is the same: to bring home the gold.

Olympic Advertising

If you've been watching the Olympics, you've probably watched the abundance of McDonald's ads that show a restaurant owner, with his family, cheering on a Canadian Olympian or team.

It's sweet, it's prideful, but I highly doubt anyone is congregating inside a McDonald's to watch the Olympics like they do in those commercials.

Okay. Okay, maybe if you're like somewhere in the age bracket of six to eighteen or like a parent, you may be sitting in a McDonald's doing exactly that... but if you're the legal age in your province, you're definitely in a bar. For sure.

On a side note, did you hear that bars in Manitoba are opening at 5 a.m. tomorrow (Sunday, Feb. 23) for the gold medal mens hockey game? Ah, yeah!

Anyway, back to the ads, one of my favourites so far is from The Canadian Institute of Diversity and Inclusion about fighting to keep the Olympics gay, because, hasn't it always been?

With over-exagerrated slow motion pelvic thrusting to Human League's "Don't you want me?", this ad is cheeky, fun and sending a politically driven message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that his attitude toward gay rights in Russia is disappointing and abhorrent. 

I'm a little late with this commercial, it's made the rounds on the Internet-- obviously-- but I can't not mention a commercial that continues focusing on an issue that should have been resolved when Russia began discriminating and criminalizing its citizens for being themselves. 

The Olympics should never have gone to Russia.

However, at the same time, I'm not an athlete. And for some athletes who competed in the Olympics this year, the 2014 Sochi Olympics may have been their one and only chance. So I understand why it went to Russia too and it's heartwarming to see that some athletes have made the decision to protest there, subtly, but with a clear message of equality. 

Cheryl Maas wears rainbow unicorn gloves

Official Olympic sponsors have also voiced support for LGBT Russia even if the commercials take on the usual Olympic narrative of nationalistic country pride.

In any case, The Canadian Institute of Diversity and Inclusion made a fantastic commercial, implying a theme that what the Olympics are about: countries coming together without discrimination or bigotry to play sports and have fun (okay, this is my take on the Olympics, but I think I'm close).

The success and failure of Canadian Target

I visited Target on a Monday, at 10 a.m. to figure out a few things on the success and failure of the Canadian version of the big chain.

When I say Canadian, this specificity is imperative because Target in Canada is NOT the same as Target in the U.S.

This is coincidentally also one of the Canadian Target’s biggest criticisms.

Who I expected to see on a Monday morning and whom I saw was more or less the same: elderly mall-walkers and moms’ with kids.

Of course there was also an influx of people my age, but this was also due to the fact that the majority of the people my age were from my advertising class.

I visited the Target on Grant and I found it is surprisingly small. I’ve been to Target in Fargo multiple times and it’s like Costco—overwhelming, but awesome.

This Target’s also crammed many things into it like a tiny grocer, furniture, appliances, clothing and makeup/bathroom/hygienic products. However, despite the amount of selection in the store, I wouldn’t describe it as feeling crammed.

One excellent thing about Target is the fact that it displays its products. In the kitchen appliance section, I saw all of the cake-pop, waffle and Panini makers on full display, which other places like Walmart do not do.

Costco does, but you need a membership and as a student I say, “Ain’t nobody got time for that.”

One interesting decision on Target’s part—and I’ve heard other Targets in the city have done—is place its Valentine’s Day display in the back.

I’ll give Target some form of credit for giving people directions to the display, but shouldn’t a seasonal display such as this be presented at the front of the store?

I mean Valentine’s Day is such a money-grab! This seems counterproductive.

According to a Target employee, Target’s opening was insane, but has since died down. Not due to disappointment, which she didn’t point out, but implied, but due to it being after Christmas and business is generally slower.

 

If I was to predict the success or failure of Target, I would predict more failure unless Target begins to offer the reasons that Canadians love Target so much in the U.S..

And that’s Vanilla Coke and couture designers who release inexpensive lines through Target.

All right. That’s just me.

Although one woman, who was paying at the cash register pointed out that Target didn’t have what she was looking for and now, rather reluctantly, had to go to Walmart.

So maybe there’s some success and now it’s just straddling the line of mediocrity.

Oyy vey

To my surprise, my craft-loving, tea-drinking friend Emily apparently has a lot in common with the rapper 2 Chainz.

She found this out through one of Buzzfeed’s notorious quizzes for “Which are you…?” And the abundance of things you could be ranges from WTF to LOL.

My Facebook feed has been lighting up with Buzzfeed quizzes like “Which Harry Potter character are you?” and “Which city are you supposed to live in?”

There’s probably some unspoken rule to when you don’t like your results and decide to alter your answers.

For example, say you ended up with Lord Voldemort—that’s terrible. You would never want to compare yourself to an evil dictator that tried to commit genocide on muggle-born witches and wizards.

You’re going to want to change your answers. ASAP.

A Buzzfeed quiz often reminds me a lot of personal branding because you’re taking your quiz result and posting it on social media for your followers to Like, comment and share your post. Therefore, you’re building this idealistic brand for yourself of yourself.

It’s almost like a Pinterest board, but with less control over what you end up with.

In the one of that quizzes, I’m supposed to live in New York City, and I would love to live in New York City. When I got the answer, I had an urge to post it on Facebook. For a brief moment my superiority got the better of me because I thought I could evoke to my followers how cultured, artistic and adventurous as I was and how I view New Yorkers to be.

The “Which rapper are you?” is mildly disconcerting because I’m sure there are millions of upper middle-class suburban kids high-fiving because they ended up with Drake or Jay-Z.

Does Drake mean you’re more sensitive? Does ending up with Jay-Z mean you’re an entrepreneur destined to make millions—scratch that—billions of dollars?

Highly unlikely, but we like the association.

The idea that what you like, what you do or how you feel on a daily basis can be pigeon holed into one person through a shuffling of names on a website is ridiculous and addicting.

However, these quizzes are a hit. Buzzfeed nailed it when it came to our narcissism, which isn’t a criticism—it’s more of a fact.

My friend Emily continues to deconstruct her answers, such as ending up with a “Soggy veggie wrap” from the quiz, “Which Sandwich are you?” and how that will affect the way she’s perceived.

Emily: “Soggy veggie wrap! WTF? Lol… Oyy vey.”

She’ll live, I’m sure, and my advice to her is to retake the quiz and alter one of your answers. She’ll may end up as a “Hero sandwich” instead and cement her status as a future leader of Canada.

#Truth.