Life-size cutouts in Beijing’s airport. photos by Phil Bolton

Atlanta-based United Parcel Service Inc. has begun training for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which begins Aug. 8, 2008, with an ad campaign in Beijing’s airport depicting life-size cutouts of uniformed UPS drivers in a relay race.

"It looks like a relay race over the baggage carousel," John Flick, head of international public relations for UPS, said of the display, which includes a driver on horseback as well as several drivers in sprinting positions holding packages as batons.

"In the coming weeks…they’re going to add a lighting feature that makes it look as if the packages are moving," Mr. Flick added.

He said that the company wanted to be involved with the 2008 Olympics as the games are China’s "coming-out party," their "chance to take a step on the world stage."

The Chinese are building 31 Olympic venues in Beijing, six venues outside of the city, as well as 59 training facilities and more than 400 hotels to house the expected crowds. More than 560,000 Chinese citizens have applied for 100,000 positions as Olympic ambassadors during the games.

The eye-catching advertisements are meant to set the UPS brand apart from other companies using sports imagery in a market that is, in the words of Mr. Flick, "going crazy" over sports.

UPS is using the Olympics to aggressively market its presence in China. The company has approximately 4,500 employees across the country and offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Mr. Flick said that China is the "single most important market in the world right now" to UPS.

The company has been appointed the official Logistics and Express Delivery Sponsor for the games. UPS has set ups the Olympics Logistics Center, a warehouse from which all of the equipment supplied by the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG) will be delivered to the athletes and to venues around China. "Our sponsorship will help make the games a success," Mr. Flick said.

UPS has chosen to invest in the Chinese women’s volleyball team after a poll of its employees. UPS logos will be featured on the team’s uniforms and at venues.

"Any time they have a match it’s brought to you by UPS," said Mr. Flick.

This heavy involvement with the 2008 Olympics is captured in UPS’ publicity scheme, which puts the company’s drivers in the roles of athletes in advertisements all over China, such as those at Beijing Airport. Mr. Flick referred to UPS drivers as "our best PR."

The cutouts are supplemented by radio and television ads. The television commercials feature well-known Chinese actor Zhang Fengyi, a familiar face to the Chinese public, helping to sell the UPS brand. Mr. Flick said that the company’s slogan in the Olympic advertising campaign is a Chinese idiom that translates to "100 percent shot on target."

American brands are in vogue with an emerging Chinese middle class that has increasing disposable income, he said. Commenting on the UPS focus in China, Mr. Flick added, "The world’s getting smaller; the ability to move goods regardless of where you are in the world is in more demand."