With the flame extinguished, the athletes safely home and back to their day jobs, you’re probably saying to yourself, ‘If I have to read another story on Olympic advertising, I’m going to stick my last McDonald’s fry in my own eye.’

But while we’ve been inundated with marketing pundits falling over each other to proclaim which ads work and which don’t, the advertising industry itself has been elbowed out of the debate as if by a Japanese short track speed skater.

So, On the Spot – (we’re nothing if not about the advertising biz) – thought we’d give the pros a chance to judge and tell us what worked and what did not in ads created specifically for the Olympics. (Note: There was no pressure or coercion from any French or Russian advertising federations.)

So without further adieu, with the benefit and clarity of hindsight, we present the OTS gold medal winners for Olympic commercial spots, 2002.

Marc Stoiber, creative director, Grey Worldwide, Toronto

‘The Quest.’ I loved that. That’s my vote for best ad of the Olympics. First of all it’s focused on hockey, but it shows the way that we hold hockey sacred. Everybody gets involved in his own small way to make our hockey players and our Olympic athletes go further – even if it’s just carrying that jock for the player across the border.

And nobody he meets along the way understands, because hockey is one of those things that you either get it or you don’t. Every guy who has played hockey or who loves hockey, just gets it – that unquestioning sense of duty that we have to make our hockey team better.

It’s a real Canadian perspective.

If it was Nike, they would talk about winning. But this is just such a Canadian thing, that you’re helping Team Canada in your own little way. That is definitely my vote as the best ad.

And it’s a great looking truck.

Randy Diplock, director, Apple Box Productions, Toronto

The Labatt spot is easily my favorite. It’s a nice idea and it’s really well executed. I would easily give that a gold.

It was one of those spots that was shot so well. I just watched it and thought to myself, I couldn’t have done that. Maybe in a couple of years I can get close.

There was one shot where the Labatt streamliner truck comes toward the camera and the shot goes inside the air horn on the fender and comes out at the other end at the exhaust. It was just little things like that that made the difference – that, and the map effect that they did. I think they had fun with it. Far too often, and I include myself in this, we take our shooting boards a little too seriously and document things a little bit too much rather than have fun.

I would give it a Sale/Pelletier: a gold and a silver.

Zak Mroueh, creative director, Taxi, Toronto

If I had to judge, I couldn’t deliver a gold this year. I honestly haven’t seen a spot that surprises me – that is original or fresh – in Olympic advertising.

I’ve seen some spots that make me feel good, but at the end of the day they’re just like spots I’ve seen before.

I know, for example, the Coke spot is connecting with a lot of consumers. But it’s connecting with consumers because it’s something they are very comfortable with. They’ve seen it before and it’s very familiar to them. The creative uses hockey, which everyone loves. But it uses those old cliches that we’ve seen a million times before – like the Paul Henderson goal. So it’s pushing all the right buttons, but unfortunately Molson Canadian has done that and other companies have done that. So I can’t honestly give it a gold because it’s not new.

It’s like a Hollywood film. We keep seeing these cliches over and over again, but as consumers we can’t help but like it. Now does that mean it’s good advertising? Yes, I guess it is. It’s doing the job it was intended to do. But is it pushing Canadian advertising forward? I don’t think it is.

I haven’t seen anything that surprised me out of Canada.

Parker Jefferson, executive producer, The Ace Film Company, Vancouver

Since so many people worked so hard on these, I thought it a bit harsh to award only one prize. There are a lot of good ones to choose from, so I think medals would be more appropriate.

Bronze: The Budweiser commercial shot in the bar, with the guys closing some kind of deal. I like the opening tracking shot, great direction and believable performances. It has a good message, and leaves the viewer with a good feeling. As usual, it’s not about the beer, which leaves a fair amount of creative freedom.

Silver: GM, Chevrolet, I think, with the tag line ‘We have so many ways to get you there.’ This one does not get as much weight as some of the others, but it is very watchable. This spot features a series of well-shot vignettes, a very interesting multi-panel editing style, and a catchy original music track. There is a lot to be said for a good track. When you hear the music, you want to watch the pictures.

Gold: Petro-Canada, the one with Yuho Sekihara talking about her friend (snowboarder) Natasza Zurek and how they skateboarded on this curb right here. It was simple, convincing, believable and relatively inexpensive. Sometimes real people work out really well.

Dan Kaminsky, executive producer, The D Squared Picture Co.

The Canada Post spot featuring ski jumper Nicolas Fontaine gets my nod for the gold. This is one of the most inspiring spots I’ve seen in awhile.

Developing a strategy for a product like Canada Post is probably not a simple task at the best of times. Considering the lingering effects of Sept. 11 and the recent Anthrax scare in the U.S., the challenge was ever more daunting, I’m sure.

The result, in my opinion, is a breathtaking spot that was designed to inspire. And inspire it does. Combining brilliant cinematography, editing and effects, this spot delivers conceptually and visually.

My hat goes off to the creative team. Now if only it had inspired Nicolas Fontaine to win a medal.

Andy Macaulay, partner, Zig, Toronto

Probably one of the most compelling is the Home Depot spot. The reason is that it offers a different twist on how a company can partner with the Olympics beyond appearing purely as a paid sponsor.

We all presume that as amateur athletes, these folks must have to spend a fair amount of their time pursuing their athletic passion. Here’s a company that is flexible enough in the way that it employs people that it facilitates that. Their sponsorship doesn’t consist of handing over a bunch of dough in order to get a media property. We are left to infer, accurately, I think, that their sponsorship exists to support the abilities of their employees to participate. That takes the debate to a whole other level.

Now, for a lot of people the execution of that spot might be too sappy or not impactful enough. But purely from a business/strategy standpoint, I think that is a very smart spot and I was engaged by it, executionally as well.

It’s not the spot from top to bottom, but it’s the idea that spot represents.

Corinna Lehr, executive producer, Sparks Productions, Toronto

GENERAL Motors of Canada ‘Super Fan’ is excellent. This ad has its finger on the pulse of the whole country. It is patriotic and true to Olympic advertising on the one hand, but it’s irreverent and fun on the other.

Between the events of last fall coupled with the Olympics on the way, I was a little concerned about my insulin levels (having to watch warm and fuzz ad nauseam), but ads like this remind me that after all is said and done, the bottom line is that we are Canadian, and there’s no doubt about it, we dream in gold.

(Editor’s note: Both Corrina Lehr and Zack Mroueh voted for Bud Light’s ‘Ulterior Emotions’ spot, which we like too. Unfortunately, OTS could not count those ballots because that spot actually broke during the Super Bowl. Also, the chads were not punched through completely.)

Credits:

Labatt Blue ‘The Quest’

Production House: The Partners’ Film Company

Director: Steve Chase.

Agency: Ammirati Puris, Toronto

Art Director: Doug Robinson.

Writer: Tom Goudie.

Home Depot ‘Snow Portraits’

Production House: Gartner

Director: Ray Dillman

Agency: The Richards Group, Dallas

Art Director: David Jenkins

Writer: Gary Gibson

General Motors of Canada ‘Super Fan’

Production House: Sparks Productions

Director: David Popescu

Agency: MacLaren McCann, Toronto

Art Director: Ian Schwey

Writer: Richard Boehnke

Canada Post ‘Nicolas Fontaine’

Production House: Jet Films, Montreal

Director: Sylvain Archambeault

Agency: Groupaction Communications

Art Director: Patrick Larochelle

Writer: Michel VanHoute

Petro-Canada ‘Zurek/Vancouver-Yuho Curb’

Production House: Imported Artists

Director: Bob Purman

Agency: Cossette Communication-Marketing

Art Director: Joe Amaral

Writer: Bill Wodhams