Disney+’s Super Bowl campaign highlighting the iconic franchises one can watch on it has been slowly evolving throughout the year so far. The latest iteration will air during this Olympics, evolving over the course of the Games to mirror the athletes’ journey with Disney IP.

The streamer’s Big Game spot (below) was much simpler than most of the over-the-top productions that night. In a minimalist typewriter font, memorable lines from Disney’s greatest hits scrolled across the screen—including, “When you wish upon a star,” “The force will be with you … always” and “Just keep swimming.”

Like the Super Bowl, “the Olympics is another moment that feels like a big stage,” said Zack Jerome, VP of brand and marketing strategy for Disney+. “The Olympics are also an opportunity to tell a longer story that plays out over a couple of weeks. And just like with the Super Bowl [spot]—the juxtaposition of quiet against loud—we had an opportunity here also to be aware of what the rest of the ads tend to be like during the Olympics: human greatness and grit and determination and what it takes to win the gold.”

Here’s the Super Bowl spot:

Disney+’s “Greatest Stories” Olympics campaign will appear throughout the Games in five iterations, timed to progress throughout the two-week event. (See the video at the top of the page.) The first phase will highlight “Beginnings” during the Opening Ceremonies, with text that reads “The greatest stories begin here.” 

Clips from the opening moments of films and shows including “Mary Poppins Returns,” “Star Wars: A New Hope,” “Poor Things” and “Coco” are accompanied by text similar to that in the Super Bowl ad, but this time describing the memorable moments in each film.

Another iteration swaps the “beginnings” text for “journeys,” featuring scenes from “The Lion King (2019),” “Only Murders in the Building” and “The Bear.” The spot will replace the “Beginnings” ad during the women’s gymnastics event. 

Similar spots representing the themes “challenges,” “triumphs” and “endings” will air during the Games, collectively representing the hero’s journey.

“Where big stages are, where big stories are about to unfold, where great characters are about to enter our lives, we want to be there,” Jerome said of the strategy.

The campaign was developed in-house, with agency Ultrabland handling editorial. Without specifying how many of Peacock’s viewers overlap with Disney+’s, Jerome said the broader goal of the campaign is to reflect the diversity of the households who watch the Olympics with the spectrum of content for each family member available with Hulu on Disney+. 

While the Olympic ad is the most recent version of the campaign, it’s been transforming ever since the Super Bowl. The original spot was accompanied by OOH ads with similar text. But between the Super Bowl and the launch of Hulu on Disney+ in late March, when Hulu content became accessible through a tab on Disney+, the ads began to transform. 

First, illustrations from the movie that each line referenced appeared with the text. For example, an ad reading, “Look for the bare necessities,” went from just the words to Mowgli and Baloo swinging from across them. Then, to align the classic Disney IP with the new, mostly adult-oriented additions to its marquee streamer, Hulu-themed twists on the text appeared.

The “Jungle Book” ad read, “Look for ‘The Bear’ necessities,” featuring actor Jeremy Allen White from “The Bear.”

Some of the imagery in the campaign may have seemed surprising, such as a pairing of “Cinderella” and “American Horror Story,” but that edge to some of the ads is what people enjoyed most, according to Jerome, adding that marketing Hulu and Disney+’s sometimes disparate content together marries Disney nostalgia with the streamers’ modern adult content.

“‘Yes, chef’ is something that we hope, down the road, is quoted in the same way that the quotes we had in the Super Bowl campaign are,” said Jerome.

More Creativity coverage from Ad Age:

• Nike’s Olympics campaign explores the winner’s mindset.
• See this week’s top 5 campaigns.
• Channel 4 made a hard-hitting Paris 2024 Paralympics ad.
• 15 hidden gems among the Cannes Lions winners.
• Meet the interns who won gold in Cannes for a poop joke.
• Nick Cohen looks back at Mads Dogs & Englishmen.

Sign up for our daily Creativity newsletter to see the best stories of the day.