The Olympic Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018 are in full swing, but for Team U.S.A. sponsors, the road to South Korea began months ago with events, activations, and even festivals in the United States. Brands engaged with athletes, fans, and members of the press by putting on "100 Days Out" celebrations, campaign launches, and many more creative events.
For United Airlines, the official Airline of Team U.S.A., activation in the U.S. included creating "superhero" action figures representing both Team U.S.A. athletes and United team members. "Superheroes is just a really awesome way for us to highlight how our employees overcome rapid weather changes to fly Team U.S.A.," Maddie King of United explained. "It's the team behind the team that supports them and helps them to get to all their competitions along the way, including the Olympics."
Team Visa athletes—U.S. women's hockey player Hilary Knight, U.S. skier Maggie Voisin, and the Nigerian women’s bobsled team—gathered on December 7 in New York for an event celebrating Visa’s Olympic Winter Games commerce experience. Visa showed off wearable payment devices and integrated shopping experience that allows fans at home to shop for Team U.S.A. apparel.
Toyota has been a founding partner of sports event Dew Tour for over 10 years. At the Dew Tour in December in Breckenridge, a 2018 Toyota Tacoma was integrated into the slope style course for snowboarders like Jamie Anderson to grind off of.
At Dew Tour Breckenridge, Toyota also built an “Olympic Ring Toss” game into the back of a 2018 Toyota Tacoma truck using skis and snowboards as elements of the game.
Toyota created a 4Runner "SkiiBall" game built into the back of a 2018 Toyota 4Runner. Dew Tour guests would register to play the game for data capture, and then would receive a prize like a cowbell or a paracord bracelet.
Hershey and Spirit, the Team U.S.A. teddy bear, made appearances at WinterFest in Times Square on November 1. Team U.S.A. WinterFest, a multi-stop festival presented by Hershey’s, crisscrossed the country to bring the energy and excitement of the Olympics and Paralympic Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018 to Team U.S.A. fans around the United States.
As a presenting sponsor of Team U.S.A. WinterFest, Hershey’s rolled out a Bobsled Boomerang that gave fans the chance to experience what it’s like to be in an Olympic bobsled while also capturing and sharing the moment on social media.
Fans visiting Team U.S.A. WinterFest tried out a skeleton virtual-reality experience powered by Samsung, which took place in a life-size snow globe.
On January 17 at the Helen Mills Event Space and Theater in New York, United celebrated the launch of its Superhero-themed Team U.S.A. advertising campaign, saluting both the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes and the United team members who fly them to competitions around the globe.
United made action figures of its "Superhero" Team U.S.A. athletes and United team members, which were included in gift bags at the event.
United Airlines, the official Airline of Team U.S.A., sent 16 athletes including members from the Freestyle Ski team to the Olympic Winter Games from San Francisco International Airport on February 6. United C.E.O. Oscar Munoz helped scan boarding passes for the athletes, then the big send-off continued as Munoz and United employees went down to the ramp to wave goodbye to the team and push back the Boeing 787-9 airplane.
At Team Kellogg’s 100 Days Out celebration at the end of October, Kellogg’s unveiled limited-edition cereal boxes featuring Team U.S.A. athletes Mike Schultz (Paralympic snowboarder), Kelly Clark (snowboarder), Nathan Chen (figure skater), and Meghan Duggan (ice hockey—not pictured). The event was held at Ramscale in New York.
From February 9 to February 25, the newly-opened Kellogg's NYC Café transformed into a cereal celebration of Team U.S.A. at the Olympic Winter Games with a red, white, and blue color scheme and Kellogg's limited-edition cereal box signage.
Procter & Gamble’s 100 Days Out Event in November celebrated the launch of its Thank You Mom “Love Over Bias” campaign in New York. The campaign's film reflects struggles with prejudices that athletes have encountered, and celebrates a mother’s role as her child’s first and greatest advocate. Skier Gus Kenworthy, figure skating legend Michelle Kwan, and bobsledders Elana Meyers Taylor, Kehri Jones, and Aja Evans helped celebrate the film's launch.
