From Irn-Bru girders to dancing Tunnock's Teacakes, brands take the stage at Glasgow's Commonwealth Games opening ceremony
Last night’s explosive opening to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games was viewed by over a seventh of the world’s population and saw over 570,000 tweets from athletes, viewers and brands.
Scotland showed pride in its favourite brands (@Laura McAllister)
‘#Commonwealthgames’ had over 164,000 uses, ‘#glasgow2014’ had nearly 148,000 and ‘#openingceremony’ saw over 47,500 mentions.
Scotland's finest brands were on board for the celebrations - some of them literally involved in the ceremony.
Irn-Bru cans served as one of the many zany props during the event as the brand is arguably a cornerstone of Scottish existence. Barr's soft-drink cans propped up a massive Forth Road Bridge - during a magnificent tour of Scotland.
The atmosphere sounded fantastic thanks to all you Born Supporters. #2014Ceremony #Glasgow2014 #borntosupport. pic.twitter.com/HyBoVCmR7U
— New From IRN-BRU (@NewFromIRNBRU) July 23, 2014
To celebrate, Irn-Bru put together a photo-realistic mock-up of the bridge for Twitter.
Giant cans of BRU propping up the Forth Rail Bridge? Aye no bad to that. #borntosupport #Glasgow2014 #2014Ceremony pic.twitter.com/UPo54aOKQS
— New From IRN-BRU (@NewFromIRNBRU) July 23, 2014
Another major Scottish brand involved was Tunnock's and its teacakes. It was heavily involved in an early set piece, where volunteers dressed as the iconic teacakes surreally danced around Celtic Park.
Had a dream I was being chased by a giant Tunnocks Tea Cake - don't know what that was about! #CommonwealthGames pic.twitter.com/iHMIH4j8dS — Beverley Dixon (@celebpa) July 24, 2014
International children’s charity Unicef was also involved in the event which showed it was about equality and generosity, as much as it was entertainment.
In the first drive of its kind, Unicef ads were shown during the show starring the likes of Chris Hoy, Euan McGregor, Nicole Scherzinger and James McAvoy.
The charity took to Twitter to congratulate the first donor of its mobile pledge drive.
Thank you Neil! RT @DougallChops: for commonwealth history text FIRST @UNICEF_uk #Glasgow2014 #PutChildrenFirst pic.twitter.com/ZOW8ZswNft — UNICEF UK (@UNICEF_uk) July 23, 2014
The partnership has so far raised £3.1m for vulnerable kids.
A new day and a new total - £3.1 MILLION raised for children last night.Thank you so much for all your support and help to #putchildrenfirst — UNICEF UK (@UNICEF_uk) July 24, 2014
Official Commonwealth Games partner BP was instead looking ahead to the first day of action asking followers their thoughts on Glasgow swimmer Michael Jamieson. He presents Scotland's biggest hope for a gold medal on day one.
Can @mj88live get #TeamScotland off to the perfect start @Glasgow2014? Have your say here: http://t.co/TkAdsDn3Qz pic.twitter.com/eHwIATryT6 — BP (@BP_plc) July 23, 2014
Ceremony hosts Celtic football club were touched when Tongan boxer Lomalito Moala wore a full Celtic kit during the ceremony. The stunt boosted the brawler's Twitter following literally by a thousand fold.
The Hoops took centre stage at the #2014ceremony this evening courtesy of Tonga's @lomalitomoala (KK) #CelticPark pic.twitter.com/xsq1E5uOP7 — Celtic Football Club (@celticfc) July 23, 2014
The athletic action kicked off this morning with Bradley Wiggins and Michael Jamieson leading the way for England and Scotland respectively.