The gloves are on in a national advertising campaign from the Canadian Olympic Foundation in conjunction with HBC.
Created by Publicis Montreal, the print, out-of-home and web campaign supports the newly redesigned red mittens that have come to symbolize Canada’s Olympic spirit.
The campaign features five Canadian Olympians hailing from various regions of the country: rower Adam Kreek, figure skater Joannie Rochette, bobsledder Helen Upperton, freestyle skier Alex Bilodeau and speed skater Marianne St-Gelais.
The ads show each Olympian in their hometown, standing atop a podium bearing the Canadian Olympic Foundation logo. Each ad features a handwritten message explaining how their Olympic journey started there.
The print ad featuring Kreek shows him on the podium in the middle of a lake, mountains in the distance, accompanied by the message “This is where the Olympic spirit began to pull me forward.”
Another ad shows Upperton in a wheat field, accompanied by the words “Here’s where I learned the joy of having the wind in my face.”
A French-language ad shows Rochette standing on the podium in the middle of a cow field, along with the message “Face á l’adversité, c’est ici que je puisais ma force (“In the face of adversity, here’s where l drew my strength).”
Each athlete is pictured wearing the red mittens, while an image of the mittens appears beneath the HBC and Canadian Olympic Foundation logos, accompanied by a message urging viewers to “Make a proud donation.” Selected portions of the text are highlighted in red to form the words “proud nation.”
Proceeds from red mitten sales will go towards the Canadian Olympic Foundation, a charitable organization that works to provide funding for technical, scientific, medical and coaching needs for sport associations such as Alpine Canada, Skate Canada and Swim Canada.
“The main idea of this campaign was to put the athletes and the country forward,” said Nicolas Massey, Publicis Montreal’s creative director, who developed the campaign with senior art director Bogdan Truta. “All of this is to raise funds for our future Olympic athletes who, let’s hope, will win as many Olympic medals in the future.”
“Yes we need talent, but at the same time we need money,” he added. “When our athletes succeed, it’s also a little bit our victory when we contribute.”
Media for the campaign was handled by ZenithOptimedia Canada.
