General Motors Canada breaks new advertising
By Adnews Staff
General Motors Canada has begun a new campaign tied to its sponsorship of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. The four 30-second ads were created by MacLaren McCann of Toronto. The ads show various General Motors cars moving along an assembly line, along with a hockey player, a skier and a bobsled team. As they pass by, factory workers add final details to the cars and adjust the equipment of the athletes. The ads use the tagline, "The Drive is On." They will air nationally on CBC Television through the duration of the games, from Feb. 10 to Feb. 23. "Hockey, bobsledding and skiing represent some of the key events in which our Olympic athletes will be competing," said Doug Turney, president of MacLaren McCann. "We wanted the ads to demonstrate GM Canada's pride and commitment, not only to the quality of the automobiles they produce, but to the Canadian athletes they support." Last fall the company became the exclusive automotive sponsor of the Olympics through 2012.
In related news, General Motors Canada has also recently released a new 60-second commercial for the Chevrolet product line. The ad shows the various vehicles sold under that banner transforming into each other as the terrain changes in the background. This ad, also created by MacLaren McCann, is intended to introduce the new product line-up. "Our creative team started with the premise that, although Chevrolet has a wide range of vehicles, all of them carry the same DNA," said Turney. "Ultimately, we came up with the idea of combining live action, computer-generated imagery and photogrammetry to get the message across." The ad, which broke during the Feb. 5 broadcast of the Super Bowl, will air nationally in English and French through 2006.