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).