A new NBC Olympics ad featuring Canadian pop star Tate McRae inspired swift backlash after it was posted by the singer and NBC on Wednesday.
In it, McRae is seen on a snowy mountain, asking an owl for help to get to Milan for the opening ceremony to meet not Team Canada, but Team USA.
“It’s the weekend with America’s best skating for gold, and Lindsey Vonn’s epic comeback,” she says. “Then back to the States for the big game, Super Bowl 60.”
The ad also promotes McRae’s latest single, Nobody’s Girl.
Canadians took to social media to share their disappointment about the Calgary-born and -raised singer promoting the American team, just a week after McRae was announced as the leading nominee at this year’s Juno Awards, alongside Justin Bieber.
“Tate McRae doing a promo for NBC and Team USA for the Olympics and not Canada has me a bit sad but okay,” Toronto-based sports content creator Jordan Cicchelli posted to X.
Independent media company Made in Canada posted to their X account questioning why McRae was supporting Team USA.
In a conversation shared on Virgin Radio Toronto’s TikTok account, hosts Daryn Jones and Deepa Prashad discussed the ad, asking, “Why is she celebrating American athletes?”
“Do they not have an American who could be in that ad?” Prashad asked.
Jones continued: “The Olympics were in Calgary, your hometown, Tate McRae. Is there no national pride?”
Prashad went on to ask whether the ad makes McRae a “sellout.”
But not all fans seem to be upset. Some are cheering on the moment as a step up in the singer’s career.
“Tate mcrae doing promo for the super bowl and the winter olympics. oh the canadian princess of pop is here,” posted another fan on X.
CBC Music has reached out to McRae’s team for comment.
There was a similar reaction in November when British pop star Dua Lipa was featured in another NBC Olympics ad promoting American athletes Lindsey Vonn, Alysa Liu, Mikaela Shiffrin and Chloe Kim.
