The Olympus commercials will air during the 1st and 3rd quarters of the Super Bowl, which is being broadcast on the Fox Television Network. The commercials will direct viewers to a new Olympus web site – www.olympusgroove.com – where they can see the spots repeatedly, learn the dance techniques, morph themselves into a Poplockin’ dance routine, and get in the groove with the m:robe digital music player. The site has information on how the product works and where it can be purchased.

The central character in both spots is a stylish young male who, armed with the Olympus m:robe, travels through a variety of different lifestyle scenarios inspiring cool, alternative dance moves in people you wouldn’t expect to be able to groove, including an elderly tourist couple, a little boy playing piñata at his birthday party, two bridesmaids and a couple of football tailgaters.

The key message in the spot is that Olympus m:robe is a fun, exciting, and innovative electronic device to “Let Your Pictures Groove.”

“There’s no bigger stage to launch a new product than the Super Bowl,” said Martin Lee, vice president of marketing for Olympus Imaging America Inc. “Since the world is watching, we promise to put on a good show. The usual advertisers will do the usual things. We really think our creative is different and the dancing will bring a whole new meaning to the word groove.”

The featured music in the Olympus commercials is “Jacques Your Body,” from the UK group called Les Rhythmes Digitals (LRD) and “Pure Gold,” by the group called the Offcuts.

The dance technique is called Poplockin,’ first made popular by a group called the Electric Boogaloos. Poplockin’ requires serious muscle control as the dancer is moving his or her body in a series of pops and locks, while remaining in one stationary area of the dance floor.

Dave Meyers, from @radical media, directed the Olympus commercials. His other commercial credits include work for Nike, The National Football League and nearly 200 music videos.

Noted music industry choreographer Hihat, who has worked with recording artists such as Missy Elliot, Mary J. Blige, Jay Z, No Doubt and Destiny’s Child, brought innovative dance techniques into the Olympus m:robe commercials.

m:robe Also to Appear on the Grammy’s and in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

The Super Bowl commercials are part of a $10 million campaign to launch Olympus m:robe. Following the Super Bowl, Olympus plans to run the m:robe commercials on the Grammy Awards telecast on February 13 on the CBS Television Network. Olympus m:robe will also appear in a print advertising campaign in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and Rolling Stone and is a featured product at Olympus Fashion Week in NYC from February 4-11.

The advertising campaign was created by The Martin Agency, an Interpublic Group (IPG) company based in Richmond, VA.

Olympus is advertising on the Super Bowl as part of a marketing strategy that focuses on high-impact sponsorships reaching big audiences and supporting the brand’s “Designed to Do More” marketing platform. Olympus owns the title sponsorship of Olympus Fashion Week in New York, is the official camera of the US Open Tennis Tournament and a sponsor of the Ferrari Formula 1 Racing Team and driver Michael Schumacher.

About m:robe 500

Olympus m:robe 500 is a portable digital music player unlike any other. It stores and plays as many as 5000 digital songs and also includes a digital camera. With m:robe users can create personalized dynamic “remixes” that blend music and pictures together to, as the Super Bowl commercials’ tagline suggests, “Let Your Pictures Groove.”

The flagship model of the new Olympus m:robe series is m:robe 500, which combines a 20-gigabyte digital music player with a 1.22-megapixel digital camera to create a compact and stylish multimedia device unlike any that’s come before it. With a one-of-a-kind “No Button” flat touch-screen interface incorporated into a vibrant 3.7-inch color VGA LCD display, music and digital images spring into action at your fingertips in several dynamic and captivating “remixes,” transitions from one image to the next, set to music. Now, both your music and your digital images – the core elements of your self-expression – can conveniently travel anywhere with you.

ABOUT OLYMPUS IMAGING AMERICA INC

Olympus Imaging America Inc. is a precision technology leader, designing and delivering award-winning products for consumer and professional markets.

Olympus Imaging America works collaboratively with its customers and its parent company, Olympus Corporation, to develop breakthrough technologies with revolutionary product design and functionality that enhances peoples lives every day. These include:

• Digital and film cameras
• Professional SLR Imaging Systems
• Digital and Microcassette recorders
• Digital Music Players
• Personal Photo Printers
• Digital Print Kiosks
• Digital Video Projectors
• Digital Media
• Binoculars