Air Canada again proved its affinity for grand scale advertising with two of the largest outdoor print ads in the country promoting the brand’s sponsorship of the Olympic Games. To commemorate its sponsorship of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, last month Air Canada installed a 258′ x 51′ Olympic mural along the entire glass wall of the grand hall in Terminal 1 at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. A similar and slightly larger mural was installed at Vancouver International Airport. The ads, the size of a football field, feature Olympic and Paralympic athletes in action (a snowboarder, skier and hockey player), and will be visible to thousands driving towards the airport.

‘As we all know, size can be a tremendous advantage when it comes to marketing. Some say size matters. And let me assure you, it is an advantage we intend to use as we work to promote awareness of the Vancouver 2010 games throughout the world,’ said Air Canada president and CEO Calin Rovinescu last week in a speech about the Olympics. The signs ‘convey to the millions of people from all over the world passing through our Vancouver and Toronto hubs the excitement that is building for 2010,’ Rovinescu added.

The Toronto mural was installed by Clear Channel Outdoor in 200 hours over a period of 12 days. The design was created by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games while 3M printed the graphics. Earlier this month, Air Canada also launched an ad wrap for the Boeing-77 aircraft showing off its sponsorship of the Olympics.