NBC : Nothing But Commercials: Sponsors -  sponsor the Paralympics.

Posted by Steve O'Hare on 30th Aug 2016

NBC : Nothing But Commercials: Sponsors - sponsor the Paralympics.

NBC : Nothing But Commercials: Sponsors impress me and sponsor the Paralympics.

Credit where credit is due, NBC’s coverage of the Olympics was good. The NBC Olympic app that you could download to your smart phone worked well and the programmable alerts made sure you got notifications when the action that interested you the most was about to happen. And the Brazilian fiasco that was supposed to happen – well, it didn’t. The Olympic athletes performed and contributed to what was one of the most memorable Olympiads in memory. Most people that have never been to Rio, now want to visit.

But it’s a telling sign that for me, perhaps the most memorable Olympic sound bite was from a Geico commercial where kids in a pool are playing “ Marco Polo” with a guy dressed as Marco Polo might, but perhaps not quite as he would in a pool - “io sono Marco Polo” was funny the first time. I'll smile the second time and maybe the third time but after that, well I'm over it. 

There must have been studies done that determined at what point commercials are counter-productive.

I’ve vowed never to give Geico the time of day let alone 15 minutes. I went to bed each night after watching the day’s events with “io sono Marco Polo” seemingly permanently lodged in my brain. And of course there were all the other commercials as well.

To most it must have seemed as if NBC’s advertising coverage was interrupted by the Olympics. Nearly everyone I spoke to told me that they too buffered their Olympic viewing with their DVR so they could take a swerve on the commercials. 

Just as the networks and advertisers are aware that Netflix serial bingeing is the best way to escape a world which runs on a constant bombardment of “sponsors messages” you would think ad execs would have grasped by now that advanced recording capabilities are now cable/satellite company standard issue. It’s about the only service that stops punters cutting the cord completely. Less is more has never been more true. Why not tempt viewers to watch  in real time by reaching a reasonable compromise and restrict advertising to ten minutes per hour. Even I would suffer that scenario and may even be susceptible to being persuaded to buying their wares.

Which brings me to the advertisers themselves. If you want to impress me, sponsor the Paralympics as you would the able bodied Olympics. If you really want to connect with me, sponsor them even more.

Listening to a report on National Public Radio over the weekend The Paralympics are short on commercial sponsorship and as a result budgets for the games have been slashed. Although promises have been made that the travel and expense grants for Paralympians will be disbursed in time, many are still unsure if they will in fact make it to Rio.

As impressed as I was by Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt and Simone Biles, the true Olympic spirit is epitomized best by disabled athletes facing life-long challenges without the promise of riches from those who endorse them.

Eo sono Jogos Paralimpicos