One of the highest-profile advertisers for the London Games, official
time-keeper Omega, is linking up for the Summer Games with one of London's
highest-profile rock legends: The Rolling Stones.

The featured song in the spot — which links, with a wink, to the very notion of
what an official Olympic time-keeper does —Start Me Up

The spot, which was filmed in Miami in February, will begin airing Friday in the
U.S. market. It features several Olympic athletes, including U.S. swimmer
Natalie Coughlin, sprinter Tyson Gay and pole vaulter Jenn Suhr. Each is shown
concentrating one moment before their competition begins.

Omega will spend more on the filming and airing of this commercial than any
other ad it's ever created, says Urquhart. "In the eight figures," he estimates.

He declined to say how much the Rolling Stones were paid for rights to their
song. But after a reporter estimated $500,000, Urquhart noted, "You're not far
off."

Thanks for posting.

Doubt we will see this one to often as 1 minute commercials haven't been the norm for about 40 years, with the exception of the 2 minute Eminem Chrysler Super Bowl ad.

Its cool that Detroit has Eminem, Will.I.Am, and Don Was all out there
pulling for the city. But I think they better get Diana Ross, Madonna,
Iggy, and RoboCop too. Asap.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-05-30 17:02 by superrevvy.

Quote
superrevvy
Its cool that Detroit has Eminem, Will.I.Am, and Don Was all out there
pulling for the city. But I think they better get Diana Ross, Madonna,
Iggy, and RoboCop too. Asap.

Detroit 2027 says Alice:

The Omega board of directors debated using START ME UP or SHAVE `EM DRY.

P.S. Here's the shorter 30 second version of the ad:





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-06-02 11:17 by Title5Take1.

Is the rhythm playing guitar from 0:14 onwards from the original
guitar track??? If so, first ever isolated part of SMU. Great.


47 shows...and counting...Hyde Park - July 6 & 13

[www.ft.com]

Who knows whether it is the slow-motion filming, the finely honed physiques of the athletes, Keith Richards’ spare guitar playing, Mick Jagger’s voice or a combination of all four – but there is something about Omega’s television commercial to mark its involvement in the 2012 Olympics that sends a shiver down the spine. It is, however, not actually launching a new model of watch during the Olympics.

Do not waste your time trying to identify bits of Stratford, however – the advert was filmed not in east London, but at five separate locations in south Florida and features some of the brand’s top sporting ambassadors, including the telegenic British heptathlete Jessica Ennis, US sprinter Tyson Gay and South African swimmer Chad le Clos.

The choice of the Rolling Stones 1981 hit “Start Me Up” as the backing track was little short of inspired: its opening line encapsulates both the explosion of power off the line, the mechanical action of a wristwatch and, most importantly, the fact that every competitor taking part in a timed sport during London 2012 will be “started up” by Omega in the brand’s capacity as the event’s official timekeeper. It is a role Omega has held almost continuously since 1932 when it supplied a few dozen stop watches for the Los Angeles games.

Omega chronographs clocked Jesse Owens in Berlin in 1936 as he ran his way to four gold medals and, following the wartime hiatus, the company worked in tandem with the makers of the original photo-finish camera at the London Olympics of 1948.

- etc. etc. - the rest is all about Omega watches.