Sochi Olympic athletes wear fans’ tweets on innovative support ribbons
SOCHI, Russia – Every athlete at the Winter Olympics is looking for that extra bit of inspiration to achieve greatness. For the 2014 Sochi Games, it might be a ribbon on their wrist with your tweet emblazoned on it.
Near the entrance of the Olympic Village stands a large red and yellow statue next to a tent with a McDonalds logo and the hashtag #CheersToSochi on it. While the first inkling is that they’re handing out McNuggets, further examination reveals a series of screens and printers, churning out red ribbons that athletes were collecting and wearing.
No, it’s not a Kabbalah conversion tent. It’s the Golden Arches’ “Cheers to Sochi” campaign, in which fans use social media or an official website to send messages to specific athletes, who can then select and print out the supportive statements on ribbons. Fans can also send messages to specific teams.
On-demand cheers. Innovative! From Mickey D's corporate:
Supporters can send personalized good luck messages – or ‘cheers’ – directly to their favourite athletes and teams by using the hashtag #CheersToSochi on Twitter, or by visiting www.cheerstosochi.com.
These ‘cheers’ will then be shared at a special display in the Athletes’ Village in Sochi, where athletes can view and print the messages onto ribbons to wear around their wrists. Athletes may even tweet their appreciation back to lucky fans.
Each message is tagged with a fan’s email address or Twitter handle, adding another layer of interactivity to this innovation.
NHL players (and McDonalds shills) Patrick Kane and Drew Doughty are among the athletes expected to wear the ribbons. Personally we’d like to see them lace their skates with them.
So congratulations, @USALugeFan69 and the like: Here’s your chance to inspire athletes to greatness with a well-crafted tweet.
