Not Completely Lost In Translation

While my knowledge of the Swedish language admittedly isn't what it could be, the beauty of video is that is has the ability to tell a story that can transcend linguistic barriers.

What's even more beautiful is when those videos come at a time when Ontario is "seeking the services of a potential supplier to provide a 2010 Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) Program awareness campaign to promote the OSS races to media and the general public."

While these people I'm thinking of might not cover all of the requirements, I think they satisfy one of the criteria in spades: "a superior skill set in generating media attention and driving new customers to the races."

I give you a television commercial from Sweden, produced by ATG for their wildly popular V75 wager.

And here is the making of said commercial.

Recall earlier this year a bunch of Sweden's harness racing industry professionals and horsemen collaborated to spoof Nickelback's Rockstar video...

Bottom line is, they get it. They get it in marketing. They get it in wagering. I'm not explicitly stating that the two are directly related in this case but I know that I have never seen anything like that in Ontario. And no, the "who do you like today?" campaign created by the NTRA and borrowed by WEG doesn't count for me.

Ontario has some of the best racing in the world with top-notch horses, some great facilities and even greater horsemen. I hope and pray for a stellar marketing campaign here. Some highly polished public service announcement with horses running in slow motion and a voice over extolling the virtues of the economic impact provided by horse racing in and of itself will not cut it. We need to get with the times, or take our place in history.