Does the world see Paralympians as elite, world-class athletes? No. Even though understanding of disability has moved forward, most still see Paralympians as people overcoming disabilities. While viewing of the Paralympics has grown it still has a way to go.
Channel 4 and its creative agency, 4creative, continue their quest to change the misperception with campaigns that began with Meet The Superhumans in 2012, followed by We’re the Superhumans in 2016 and Super.Human in 2020. The word, superhuman, and its danger of being seen as hyperbole, have been dropped from the 2024 campaign.
Considering What? gets real. Created in collaboration with disability led inclusion agency, Purple Goat, for the first time, it moves away from the idea of Paralympians overcoming their disabilities. The campaign film, directed by Steve Rogers, captures the misguided, albeit often well-intentioned, reactions of people as they watch Paralympic sport, that don’t appreciate Paralympians for what they are – world class athletes. It presents Paralympians as taking on impassionate and unchangeable natural forces, such as gravity, friction and time – forces that make no exception for any athlete, regardless of disability. These forces are personified as spectators – gravity as a shirtless man taunting with a pint of beer in his hand; friction as a juvenile driver doing donuts; and lady time as an onlooker in the crowd with a sand timer and stopwatch.
The campaign was on built from research, commissioned by Channel 4, which showed that 59% of people said they watch the Paralympic Games to “see athletes overcoming their disabilities” whereas just 37% say they watch the Paralympics for “exciting sporting competition”.
The campaign film is running on TV in the UK. The full film is 2.20 minutes with cutdowns of 60-, 40- and 20-seconds, as well as a six-second version for social media. It features ParalympicsGB athletes, Aaron Phipps, Dame Sarah Storey, Emmanuel Oyinbo-Coker, Joseph Lane, Emma Wiggs, Olivia Broome and Alfie Hewett. TV is supported by a nationwide OOH campaign form August 12, in which well-meaning but patronising phrases are corrected by the physicality of the Paralympic sports themselves, featuring Paralympic athletes, Justine Moore, Gemma Collis (fencing); Mark Swan (powerlifting); Harri Jenkins, Fay West and Nick Cummins (wheelchair rugby); and Kare Adenegan (wheelchair racing).
In Channel 4’s campaign blog, Lynsey Atkin, executive creative director of 4creative, stated, “Gravity, friction, time. The unchangeable forces of our world dictate what it means to be the best on the pitch, in the pool, on the court, on the track. They offer no head starts, no free passes, no patronising pat on the head and another go around. Excellence is excellent, no caveats. How strange that as audiences we watch one of the world’s most elite sporting events with our heads tilted and our amazement seemingly tempered.
“As we moved on from Superhumans, we wanted to turn the lens on the audience, done with a film stuffed full of Channel 4 irreverence and spirit. We owe a huge debt to Paralympians and our partners throughout the disabled community who have worked with us to bring this project to life. My personal thanks to them for backing a sports film that features a fat man with a pint and a lad with a mullet doing donuts in Brent Cross. Bring it on, Paris.”
Channel 4 has also commissioned a mural created by artist, Florence Burns, who is disabled, situated at Village Underground in Shoreditch, London. The mural, created with experiential agency Fever, will be remain in place until August 5.
Credits
Brand: Channel 4
Chief Marketing Officers: Katie Jackson, Zaid Al-Qassab
Marketing Director: Amber Kirby
Marketing Lead: Anna Kerr
Marketing Executive: Alexandra Baker
Senior Planner, Strategy & Consumer Insight: James Hamilton
Brand Planner: Thomas Schofield
Sports Partnership Lead: Kate Clayton
Creative Agency: 4creative
Executive Creative Director: Lynsey Atkin
Creative Directors: Andy Vasey & Dan Warner
Creatives (FILM): Andy Vasey & Dan Warner
Creatives (OOH): Stuart Gittings & Reuben Dangoor
Director of Production: Miketta Lane
Executive Producer: Fiona Wright
Senior Producer TV: Lauren Holden
Production Manager: Hannah Jones
Production Assistant: Amelia Croom Trainee
Production Coordinator: Tehya Connery
Senior Producer OOH & Ident: Rory Maclean
Producer Social: Faye Adams
Head of Design: Rob Boon
Senior Designer: Aimi Awang
Designer: Dan Davies
Senior Project Manager: John Trevor
Head of Creative Operations: Olivia Jones
Disability Agency: Purple Goat
Client Director: Dom Hyams
Campaigns Director: Dani Roberts
Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks UK x Revolver
Director: Steve Rogers
Executive Producer & Managing Director: Rupert Reynolds-Maclean
Head of Production: Emily Atterton
Producer: Simon Eakhurst
Production Manager: Luke Thornton
Director’s Assistant: James Murray
Director of Photography: Daniel Landin
Production Designer: John Henson
1st AD: Ben Gill
Editing Company: Work Editorial
Editor: Rich Orrick
Edit Assistant: Miles Watson
Edit Producer: Frankie Elster
Post Production: Time Based Arts
VFX Executive Producer: Sian Jenkins
Post Producer: Mia Saunders
VFX Creative Director: Sheldon Gardner
VFX Lead: Matt Shires
Colourist: Simone Grattarola
Colour Assistant: Tom Matthews
2D Lead: Stephen Grasso
Sound Designer & Composer: Jon Clarke
Executive Audio Producer: Deborah Whitfield
Producers & Music Supervisors: Joshua Gibbard & Siân Rogers
Music Production Company: Siren @ Factory
OOH Agency: Curious
Producer: Tom Gibson
Photography: Dan Humphreys
Media Agency: OMD
