Westinghouse 100 Years: An Olympic Feat
Westinghouse is celebrating a special milestone: over a century of leadership in nuclear power and energy solutions. To mark the occasion, Big Red Oak is helping to share the news through a commercial reflecting on the company’s legacy of innovation and its vision for the future.
Westinghouse 100 Years is airing during CBC’s coverage of the 2026 Olympic Games, spotlighting Westinghouse as a proud Canadian company ready to power the next hundred years.
The Story Behind the Story
The Big Red Oak team has partnered with Westinghouse for the past couple of years on its Ready Now awareness campaign, showcasing how the company’s proven technologies and expertise strengthen Canada’s position as a global energy superpower.
The centennial landmark created an opportunity to go deeper: to tell a more personal story that links national pride with Westinghouse’s impact on Canada’s past, present, and future. From initial strategic planning through to final production, both our teams translated the narrative to film and found a powerful platform to share it.
Anchored around the story of a father and daughter, Westinghouse 100 Years opens in black and white to reflect the company’s historical roots before resolving into colour. The journey of Westinghouse is mirrored in the profile of a skilled trades worker sharing his craft with his daughter, then flashing forward as she follows in her father’s footsteps.
The Spirit of Collaboration
Technologies may be complex, but human connections are the lifeblood of successful projects.
Our long-standing relationship with Westinghouse, grounded in trust and shared values, laid the foundation for energetic discussions as we collaborated to develop the concept and plan its execution. And that enthusiastic spirit carried over to the on-site production phase.
“The highlight for me was just how well we integrated as a team,” says Alistair Simpson, Director of Production at Big Red Oak. “The Westinghouse people were literally behind the camera with me, helping set up the shots.”
“We do a lot of planning to make sure that once we bring a project to production, all the messages are there and our client is on board,” explains Sarah Benteau, Big Red Oak’s Director of Marketing and Sales. “We ask: Who are we talking to? What’s important to them? What do we want them to learn or feel?”
Pride and Privilege
What did we want for Westinghouse 100 Years? We wanted people to see the humanity behind the progress. To look beyond Westinghouse’s innovative technologies, career opportunities, and economic impact. To feel proud of our country’s significance in the dynamic energy space. And where better to inspire that pride than during the Olympics!
At Big Red Oak, we count on three primary elements for a successful project: the trust that drives true collaboration, the passion that fuels creativity, and the skill that breathes life into the concept. Producing a commercial for Olympic coverage was a privilege, and a compelling reminder that clean energy stories deserve a national stage. Big Red Oak is proud of our achievement, and equally proud of the partnership with Westinghouse that made it possible.
To learn more about how the project came together, from early strategy through on-set collaboration, listen to our podcast conversation with the Big Red Oak team members who led the work.