Visa Unveils Two Real-Time Congratulatory Commercials Following Gold Medal Performances By Team Visa Athletes, Kerri Walsh & Misty May-Treanor And Allyson Felix

Visa, a Worldwide Olympic Games Sponsor for 26 years, introduced two new congratulatory advertisements last evening celebrating three-time Olympic gold medalists Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor and first-time individual gold medalist Allyson Felix. Kerri and Misty secured their third consecutive beach volleyball Olympic gold medal and Allyson captured a gold medal in the 200m sprint.

The spots, entitled “ Congratulations Kerri and Misty” and “ Congratulations Allyson,” both aired on NBC following their respective medal performances and featured real video and photo cheers from fans in the U.S. who had submitted their support of these Team Visa athletes via Visa’s Cheer application on Facebook. The commercials include actual event footage from the London 2012 Olympic Games.

“We’re honored to celebrate these Team Visa athletes’ remarkable and memorable performances through our real-time Go World congratulatory commercials,” said Kevin Burke, global CMO of core products for Visa, Inc. “Fans have expressed their overwhelming support of Team Visa athletes around the world, including Kerri, Misty and Allyson, and featuring some of them in our ads truly illustrates the impact and importance cheering has on inspiring and motivating Olympians in their quest for greatness at the Olympic Games.”

Visa introduced its first congratulatory commercial celebrating Team Visa performances at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, following Michael Phelps’ win in the 200 meter butterfly. Visa continued this tradition during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games with four US congratulatory ads and again at the London 2012 Olympic Games. During London 2012, Visa unveiled a new spot for longtime Team Visa athlete Michael Phelps ( “Congratulations Michael”) immediately following his gold medal win in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay, which made him the most decorated Olympian of all-time.

Visa’s Olympic Games-themed integrated marketing campaign for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games – Go World – is the largest global and most social initiative in company history. The campaign, activated in more than 70 countries, utilizes popular social media platforms, along with television and digital advertising and usage promotions, to turn the passion of fans into online cheers that will help inspire athletes worldwide as they compete at the Games.

The campaign has generated more than 53 million cheers for Team Visa athletes preparing for and competing at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Visa reports that the top seven most-active “cheering” countries are the United States, Brazil, Russia, Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Australia.

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