And so to the looming Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, which opens next Friday with a total of 116 events contested over the 19 days. In fact, around 2,800 athletes from over 90 National Olympic Committees are expected to compete – never let it be said we don’t do our homework…
Naturally, the advertising industry is gagging to get in on the action, with Samsung one of the first “on the slopes” with a new global campaign by Le Pub Italy, marking the first time the “Victory Selfie” will appear at a Winter Games and the first time it will be available for pair and team sport medal ceremonies.
That’s right, following its debut at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, the Victory Selfie allows athletes to capture the emotions of the medal podium themselves using Galaxy smartphones.
The expansion at Milano Cortina 2026 means even more athletes will be able to document the moment from their own perspective; a significant shift from traditional podium imagery previously limited to official broadcast photography captured from a distance.
Under Samsung’s Olympic campaign platform “Open Always Wins”, the Milano Cortina 2026 work emphasises that success is never achieved alone but through the collective support of family, coaches, teammates, fans and communities.
To bring this idea to life, Samsung spotlights the Olympic Edition’s Dual Recording feature – a bespoke camera experience tailored for the Olympic Edition – which captures two perspectives simultaneously, expanding victory from an individual achievement into a shared experience.
The campaign launches with a new film, “Victory is a Team Sport”, backed by the KPop Demon Hunters theme tune Golden. It brings together an athlete’s journey and a parent’s emotional perspective, combining both points of view in the same moment through Victory Selfies and Dual Recording, from early failures through to success on the Olympic stage.
The film is being backed by a series of social-first videos featuring Italian national athletes and Team Samsung Galaxy members Ian Matteoli (Snowboard), Flora Tabanelli (Freestyle Ski) and Miro Tabanelli (Freestyle Ski). The films explore the relationships behind elite performance, capturing moments shared with coaches, siblings and family members using Dual Recording.
Three social are already running, with a further three released on February 6, including a compilation edit designed for short-form distribution.
So, what is the consensus around the Decision Marketing office?
To be fair, probably like millions of others, we only normally watch the Winter Olympics to see the contestants falling on their arses, what’s not to like? And, it seems, Samsung and Le Pub recognise this as the film actually captures that too.
Naturally, it’s all stirring and emotional stuff, detailing the “journey” from stumbling small child to elite athlete, and, with the KPop Demon Hunters thrown in for good measure to woo the younger audiences, it is actually quite entertaining.
Anyway, the athletes are lucky, when they take a selfie they don’t have to worry about whether the angle of the camera will make them look fat. Then again, they are at the top of their game; here in the Decision Marketing office, we’re slightly less lean. Just saying.
Decision Marketing Adometer: A ‘go on, take a tumble’ 8 out of 10
