Eastman Kodak Company
Kodak Wins Award for Athens Olympic Advertising
Winning Photomontage Sets New Guinness World Record
ATHENS, GREECE, March 25 -- A record-setting photomontage created by Eastman Kodak Company, celebrating the citizens of Greece and the return of the Olympic Games to Athens, won the Gold Award in its category at the 3rd annual Effie Hellas 2004 Awards Ceremony.
The Effie Awards are presented annually by the New York American Marketing Association in recognition of the year's advertising campaigns that have delivered superior results in meeting the objectives they were designed to achieve.
The photomontage titled "The Whole of Greece in One Smile" comprises 16,609 photos of the Greek community that cover a surface area of over 5,000 square feet. The montage, situated in the Athens Syntagma Square opposite the Parliament of Greece, was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest photomontage ever created, breaking the previous record also held by Kodak of 12,012 photos displayed at an exhibition in St. Petersburg, Russia in May 2003.
Kodak created the montage to honor the citizens of Greece in keeping with the company's historic association with the Olympic Games. George Eastman, the founder of Kodak, began the company's association with the Games in 1896 when he placed an advertisement for the Athens Games. The 2004 Olympic Games are scheduled to begin in Athens on Aug. 13.
"We decided to create something that would give all visitors to Athens the chance to share in the spirit of the Olympic Games," said Lazaros Piatopoulos, General Manager, Kodak Near East Inc. "The people of Greece were invited to send a picture and be part of history in the largest-ever photographic montage. The photos of the 16,609 Greeks that responded made up the face of a child, whose smile looks at the future with hope and awaits the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games with pride."
"With virtually every record-breaking Olympic moment captured on Kodak film, Kodak has been a proud sponsor of the Olympic Games starting in 1896. With the theme Golden Past. Brilliant Future, we intend to continue to empower the world to share in the Olympic spirit," Piatopoulos said.
From photographic services to health imaging, from accreditation to output services, Kodak's products, people and innovation will help stage the world's largest event with four major initiatives. Kodak will:
- supply the Olympic Polyclinic with equipment to
help care for the health needs of the Olympic athletes,
including the full digitization of an X-Ray room and a full line
of Kodak dental products;
- produce more than 350,000 security badges and
80,000 visa credentials for Olympic officials, athletes,
volunteers and sponsors;
- create the world's largest photo lab to
serve the traditional and digital photographic needs of the more
than 1,000 professional photographers in attendance;
- and provide the International Olympic Committee
and Olympic sponsors with an array of services for producing
their visual materials, including posters, post cards, banners,
and more.