Skip to main content

Check out Omega’s extraordinarily creative ad for the Tokyo Games

Whether or not you’re planning to dive into the festival of sport that is the 2020 Tokyo Games, do take a moment to enjoy Omega’s wonderfully creative ad, titled Timekeeping and tradition: Omega meets Japan.

Timekeeping and tradition: OMEGA meets Japan

The exquisite 60-second sequence (above) uses Imagine Dragons’ 2015 song Dream for the soundtrack cleverly combines elements of Japanese culture with stylish shots of Olympic sports and Omega timepieces to produce something really rather special.

The esteemed Swiss watchmaker describes the ad as “a split-screen celebration of split-second precision and enduring Japanese customs.”

It was created by Omega’s internal communications team and took around one-and-a-half years to develop and produce. Most of the filming took place in Japan, though some additional material was captured in Miami, Florida.

The video quickly went viral and racked up more than 12 million views on YouTube in just a few days, wowing those who watched it. One person wrote in the comments, “I would call this video perfection. What a beautiful idea about the use of imagery,” while another wrote, “This is an incredibly beautiful commercial. A masterpiece indeed.” Another said it was simply “one of the most incredible advertisements I’ve ever seen.”

Including the current event in Japan, whose opening ceremony on Friday, July 23 included several surprises for gaming fans, Omega has served as the official timekeeper at 29 Olympic Games since 1932. Across the decades the company has developed a slew of cutting-edge sports timekeeping technologies, among them the electronic starting gun, touchpads for swimming, and the Scan’O’Vision Myria — a photo finish camera that can take up to 10,000 digital images per second.

To find out more about how Omega has come to lead the field in sports timekeeping, and what it’s been doing to stay at the top of its game, check out this Digital Trends article that includes comments from Alain Zobrist, CEO of Omega Timing.

If you’re looking to catch all of the thrilling moments of athletic excellence from the 2020 Summer Games, we’ve broken down how and where to watch the action.

Editors' Recommendations

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Google Play Games for Windows PCs rolls out in limited beta
Windows PC running Google Play Games.

During The Game Awards 2021 last month, Google teased us with the news of its plans to bring Google Play Games to Windows PCs this year. Now, it looks like the company is taking the first steps to make that a reality.

Today, Google is opening sign-ups to begin testing Google Play Games for PC as a beta in three countries: Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

Read more
Check out this incredibly detailed Mars imagery captured by NASA’s rover
Mars' Jezero Crater.

NASA has released an impressive video showing the Martian landscape as seen from its Perseverance rover.

The video (below) is based on a panoramic image shared by the space agency several days ago. However, in this latest release, Perseverance project scientist Ken Farley offers a fresh perspective by describing key areas of interest.

Read more
Pokémon Unite tops the list of Google Play’s Best Games of 2021
Pokemon Unite characters.

In its usual end-of-year retrospective, Google has announced the Best of Play winners for 2021, highlighting key apps and games that Google feels made the most positive contributions to the world of mobile over the past year. 
For the first time, Google has also expanded these awards beyond the Android smartphone platform this year to include apps and games on tablets, Wear OS, and Google TV. The awards recognize innovation in app and game development, and in making its selections, Google looks for apps that challenge the norms by “introducing unique gameplay features and giving users never-before-seen experiences.” 

Pokémon Unite took the Best Game of the Year award for 2021, beating out top picks from previous years such as Genshin Impact (2020), Call of Duty: Mobile (2019), and PUBG Mobile (2018). Google cited the dynamic gameplay and cross-platform experience of Pokémon Unite as its key merits, while also giving honorable mentions to independent developers that it says are “creating imaginative and personal gaming experiences.” The runners-up this year were notably both indie developers: George Batchelor for Bird Alone and Annapurna Interactive for Donut County.
Masaaki Hoshino, Producer for Pokémon Unite, thanked Google for the recognition, adding, “All of us who worked on the game are very honored to receive such an award,” particularly as this is Pokémon’s first strategic team battle game. “We tried to distill the best parts of the MOBA genre to create a new kind of game,” Hoshino added, while also candidly admitting that he was “unsure if it would be well received by players around the world.” The Pokémon Unite producer says he’s thrilled to have the affirmation that his team is on the right track and plans to continue improving the game and making it even more exciting. 
Google Play also acknowledged winners in five more specific categories, including Best Competitive, Best Game Changers, Best Indies, Best Pick up & Play, and, for the first time, Best for Tablets. 
Once again, Google also ran its Users’ Choice awards to give Play Store users a chance to weigh in by voting on their most popular picks. This year, the vote for Best Game went to Garena Free Fire MAX. Previous Users’ Choice award winners include SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off (2020), Call of Duty: Mobile (2019), and PUBG Mobile (2018). Although the 2018 and 2019 Users’ Choice matched Google’s own pick for Game of the Year, this is now the second year in which the user vote has gone in a different direction. 
As for apps, Google noted that apps focused on personal growth continued to be in high demand throughout 2021, and its top picks reflected that. 

Read more