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VML, Questlove and Lenny Kravitz Hype the Summer Olympics

By Patrick Coffee on Apr. 21, 2016 - 11:23 AM3 Comments

So, the Olympics are coming up. What, did you forget?

Beyond the many, many ads we will see during the competition, there will also be lots of ads for the Olympics themselves. Today the first(?) such spots launched, and they were created by WPP’s global branding agency VML.

They are PSA-style inspirational pieces available in four languages. Get ready to enjoy the first anthem”Together” with your loved ones or your headphones at your desk when you should really be doing work.


Did you catch that song? It was Lenny Kravitz covering The Roots, a combo we frankly never thought we would see outside of some late-’90s fever dream. How does this guy keep getting such huge gigs, again??

In the next spot “Counting Stars,” VO contributor Uma Thurman isn’t just every woman…she’s every moment. She’s you!


In “Respect,” we learn that she also happens to be quite a few other things as well.


There was definitely a lot of impressive athletic performance footage in those spots. But then that’s what the Olympics are all about.

The client’s full name is the International Olympic Committee, and its managing director of TV and marketing services Timo Lumme said, “The Olympic Movement is here to break down walls and build bridges, and through this emotive campaign we hope audiences will be inspired to learn more and see that together we can change the world.”

Versions of the spots in French, Spanish and Portuguese also launched with VOs by Juliette Binoche, Paz Vega and Tais Araujo, respectively.

The ads will air pretty much everywhere including regional TV buys and all related social media accounts.

Director and cinematographer Max Malkin helmed the spots; his credits include music videos from all your ’90s-’00s faves like Eminem, Green Day, The Beastie Boys and REM…but not Lenny Kravitz.