  urlLink In the True Spirit of the Games urlLink Athens Olympics 2004 The Nakayama’s are big Olympics & World Cup Soccer fans (more like Nakayama minus Ghetto, that is). We live for this stuff. If we could be there, we would. But the closest alternative to watching it live is catching it on the boobtube on simultaneous telecast. In the year 2001, my dad even insisted that we get a new satellite dish and tuner installed just for that, out of sheer obsession I say. And it wasn’t a simple task at all. My brother flew to Japan to purchase the gadget and we had a crew of 3 people or so install a 10 feet mesh satellite dish on our roof.
This was done all in the name of live-telecast viewing of the urlLink 2002 World Cup held in Japan &amp; Korea. Really, nothing beats watching it live. More so, actually being there in the stadium like what my sister and I did in Saitama, Japan. Heehee ;) Now I’m crossing my fingers for the 2006 World Cup in Germany… but that’s another story. Now to get back on the topic. The Athens Olympics opens on the 13th of August, 2004, that’s in a mere 2 days.
The first match of the whole tournament actually kicks off in a matter of hours though. - Women's Soccer Match: Japan vs. Sweden. Unfortunately, we have yet to hear much about the Olympics here in the Philippines. Only recently did urlLink NBN confirm that they will air the Olympics (crap reception btw) It’s a once in 4 years world event and still so many things haven’t been ironed out.
There are just so many issues surrounding this event, like overgrown budget, fear of terrorism, insufficient accommodations in Athens, bleh food in Athens et all. It would be a miracle if this one goes on without a hitch. So lets pray for a miracle people. We don't want a repeat of that urlLink tragic massacre during the Munich Olympics in 1972. Game viewing and cheering aside, what I love about the Olympics is the urlLink ‘Celebrate Humanity’ ad campaigns. Both Summer &amp; Winter series follow this theme and they usually are such inspiring pieces. Sometimes I even get misty-eyed, when I catch those captions with struggling athletes that overcome their challenges, the tears, smiles and all. The narration, the music, the images, all these combined with the solemn ending of the ‘Celebrate Humanity’ tag on a blank background. I don’t know whether it ranks high up in the Cannes, Lions, or whatever Ad Award giving body, but it sure motivated me to want to get into advertising.
The Olympics and UNICEF ads were the prime instigators of my love for advertising. Well, it is a sad fact now, that studying advertising in college has made me lose that passion for an advertising career… What I do wish for now is that they air more ads here in Manila, cuz we’re seriously being deprived of anything to do with the Olympics. urlLink Samples of Celebrate Humanity Campaign (that they obviously don’t show here.. hmph!?
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