Half of the top 10 most shared Olympic ads of all time come from the Rio Games. That’s according to data released this week by Unruly, which puts ads from British broadcaster Channel 4, Under Armour, Nike, and P&G in the all-time chart.
Channel 4’s “We’re The Superhumans” is the most shared ad of the Rio Olympics. The ad promoting the TV channel’s coverage of the upcoming Paralympic Games took gold after being shared more than 1.46 million times across social media.
Its closest competitor from the 2016 Rio Olympics was Under Armour’s “Rule Yourself”, which featured Olympic legend Michael Phelps. Michael Phelps’ Olympic ad’s 473,635 shares were enough to earn Under Armour silver in Rio, but not enough to earn it a place on the all-time podium, the Olympic swimmer instead having to settle for fourth.
The most shared ad of all time remains P&G’s 2012 ad “Best Job,” which was created for the 2012 London Olympics and still leads the way with more than 2.44 million shares. But with the 2016 Rio Paralympics not due to start till next month, the “We’re The Superhumans” spot – which is currently in second place – still has time to claim the all-time gold.
The latest installment from P&G’s highly-successful “Thank You, Mom” campaign – “Thank You, Mom – Strong” – not only took bronze in Rio but was also sixth in the all-time chart – the third ad from P&G to make the list.
An Under Armour spot featuring the USA gymnastics team and Nike’s “Unlimited Youth” also make the all-time list, in 9th and 10th positions respectively.
Meanwhile, Nike’s decision to release several different ads as opposed to one blockbuster ad also meant the sports giant had three ads in this year’s top 10 – the most by any brand. Spots from United, Gatorade and the BBC also made the Rio top 10.
Top 10 most shared ads of Rio 2016
- Channel 4: We’re The Superhumans | Rio Paralympics 2016 Trailer – 1,465,776 shares
- Under Armour: RULE YOURSELF | MICHAEL PHELPS – 473,635
- P&G: Thank You, Mom – Strong | Rio 2016 Olympic Games – 200,913
- Under Armour: RULE YOURSELF | USA WOMENS GYMNASTICS – 193,242
- Nike: Unlimited Youth – 187,384
- United: Team USA Commercial: ‘One Journey. Two Teams.’ – 184,962
- Nike: Unlimited You – 154,693
- Gatorade: The Boy Who Learned to Fly | Usain Bolt – 128,254 shares
- BBC Sport: Rio 2016 Olympic Games: Trailer – 107,570
- Nike: Unlimited Together – 87,300
Top 10 most shared Olympic ads of all time
- P&G – Thank You Mama – Best Job (London 2012) – 2,445,774 shares
- Channel 4: We’re The Superhumans (Rio Paralympics 2016) – 1,465,776 shares
- P&G – Pick Them Back Up (Sochi 2014) – 694,834 shares
- Under Armour: RULE YOURSELF | MICHAEL PHELPS (Rio 2016) – 473,635
- Canadian Institute For Diversity And Inclusion – Luge (Sochi 2014) – 318,529 shares
- P&G: Thank You, Mom – Strong (Rio 2016) – 200,913
- Nike – Find Your Greatness Commercial: The Jogger (London 2012)– 198,527 shares
- adidas – Team GB Don’t Stop Me Now (London 2012) – 196,665 shares
- Under Armour: RULE YOURSELF | USA WOMENS GYMNASTICS (Rio 2016) – 193,242
- Nike: Unlimited Youth (Rio 2016) – 187,384
Unruly has also released data this week which shows how the average Olympic ad compares with the rest of Adland.
Using analysis taken from Unruly Pulse – an analytics tool which provides insight into the emotional trends of video advertising – the video ad tech company found that Olympic ads are almost twice as likely to make viewers feel inspired and almost three times as likely to make people feel proud than the average ad (93% and 166% respectively).
They are also 75% more likely to leave viewers feeling intensely exhilarated, 66% more likely to amaze and 20% more likely to leave people feeling very happy. However, the average Olympic ad is half as likely to make people laugh.
Meanwhile, people are 34% more likely to share an Olympic ad for social good reasons than the average ad and 46% more likely to share ads just to be part of the zeitgeist.
These are strategic insights for brands and agencies that are preparing to run ads during the 2016 World Series, 2017 Super Bowl, or the 2018 FIFA World Cup as well as the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, or the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Greg Jarboe
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