IPC & Partners Leverage Tokyo Paralympics To Launch #WeThe15 Campaign/Movement

A week ahead of the start of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) teamed up with the International Disability Alliance (IDA) to launch an initiative called #WeThe15 designed not just to be a marketing campaign but to start a movement to put disability at the heart of the inclusion agenda.

Developed in harness with creative agency adam&eveDDB in partnership with Pentagram, Pulse Films, FleishmanHillard, Porter Novelli and Portland, the integrated initiative launched on 19 August and sets out to build buzz ahead of the Games and to end discrimination towards people with disabilities and campaign for disability visibility, accessibility and inclusion (alongside ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation).

The project will work with UN Human Rights, UNESCO, governments, businesses, The Valuable 500, The Special Olympics and the public over the next decade to initiate change for the 1.2bn people on the planet with disabilities – which the IPC states is the world’s largest marginalised group and which makes up 15% of the global population.

Today, Special Olympics proudly joins forces with a coalition of global organizations in launching @WeThe15. Our aim? To end discrimination and advance the rights of the 15% of the world's population with disabilities: https://t.co/ULbWdcdJ5m https://t.co/QPrDo82FlO #WeThe15 pic.twitter.com/swRuqhglxl

— Special Olympics (@SpecialOlympics) August 18, 2021

The campaign seeks to change the narrative around people with disabilities: away from the idea that they are either stereotyped as objects of pity or put on a pedestal as Super Humans, but rather to emphasise that disability is not an ‘other’, but that it is humanity. It will campaign not just to promote the Paralympics, but for access to fundamental rights such as healthcare, education, and employment.

The multifaceted campaign is introduced through a global spearheaded film which skewers the superheroes trope and which featured disabled folks going about their daily routines in a striking montage which is simultaneously amusing, uplifting and relatable.

The two-minute anthem spot stars a diverse range of disabled people: from British Paralympians holding down jobs, to people chasing after their kids, practicing their faiths, binging on reality TV and getting married on the beach.

The film will air around the world, including on Channel 4 and NBC’s coverage of the Paralympic Games and will reach an audience of 250m during the 24 August Opening Ceremony.

The ad will also run during the Special Olympics, Invictus Games and Deaflympics.

To further amplify the launch phase message, design firm Pentagram devised bold outdoor elements which will appear in the USA, Canada, France, Japan and the UK and will include a takeover of London’s Piccadilly Circus (with Ocean Outdoor), as well as featuring on 125 iconic landmarks on six continents such as the London Eye, Edinburgh Castle, the Titanic Building in Belfast, Niagara Falls, NYC’s Empire State Building, the CN Tower and Tokyo’s Rainbow Bridge which will all light up in IPC purple in support of the movement.

#WeThe15 #Tokyo2020 https://t.co/qns2N7WRiN

— Paralympic Games (@Paralympics) August 19, 2021

There is also a set of in-stadium signage for Tokyo.

Public relations shops FleishmanHillard, Porter Novelli and Portland will also provide direct and indirect media support and will rally celebrity influencers and coordinate political and media engagement for in select markets.

“The more brands and organizations and people that get involved in this movement, the louder that voice will be and the faster the change will come,” commented adam&eveDDB CEO Mat Goff.

“WeThe15 aspires to be the biggest ever human rights movement for persons with disabilities and aims to put disability right at the heart of the inclusion agenda, alongside ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation,” said IPC President Andrew Parsons. “By uniting several leading international organisations and the world’s 1.2 billion persons with disabilities behind one common movement, we will make a tangible and well overdue difference for the planet’s largest marginalised group. Sport, and events such as the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, are hugely powerful vehicles to engage global audiences.  By partnering with Special Olympics, Invictus Games, and Deaflympics, there will be at least one major international sport event for persons with disabilities to showcase WeThe15 each year between now and 2030.  These sports events add great value to the campaign and underline the hugely positive impact sport can have on society. I strongly believe WeThe15 could be a real game-changer for persons with disabilities.”

“Often, we find ourselves asking, ‘What can I do to help?'” noted FH CEO Jim Donaldson. “Registering your support for this movement, critical to advancing the rights of the global disability community, is a welcome start. Change can only begin by communicating, and we encourage everyone to use their voice to support this incredible cause.”

Ana Lucia Arellano, Chairperson of the International Disability Alliance, added: “Over the past 20 years, a lot has been achieved regarding the inclusion of persons with disabilities. We successfully advocated for the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, as well as to be included in the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. Looking into the future, we recognise that there is still a lot to be done if we want to achieve the full inclusion of more than a billion persons we represent. We need new creative and innovative approaches, and we need much broader coalition to achieve that.  WeThe15 has a unique opportunity and responsibility to achieve exactly that – to be a platform where more and new actors will come together making the ‘Nothing about us without us’ a real change for all persons with disabilities.”

The campaign was briefed in by and created for the International Paralympic Committee’s Chief Brand & Communications Officer: Craig Spence, Head of Brand and Engagement Natalia Dannenberg-Spreier, Head of Communications Phil Dorward, Brand Campaigns Coordinator Elliot Forward, Digital Partnerships Manager: Mariel Avalos, Designer Tanja Aurand, Brand Campaigns Assistant George Doman, Campaign Consultant Dana Robinson-Slote, Head of Partnership Services Nael Ogden-Smith, Partnership Services Managers Kiriah Crane and Fiona Sanna, IPC Board Member Juan Pablo Salazar and Broadcasting Rights Manager Daphne Chan.

The creative agency team working on the project at adam&eveDDB included Chief Creative Officer Richard Brim, Global Creative Director Laura Rogers, Creatives Edward Usher and Xander Hart, Film Creatives Selma Ahmed and Genevieve Gransden, Social Director Sophie Chaytor-Grubb, Social Media Manager Matthew Osbourne, Creative Technology Director Hash Milhan, Deputy Head of Production Jack Bayley, Agency Producers Rebecca Holt and Hannah Needham, Integrated Assistant Producer Richard Bailey, Senior Project Manager Alice Southam, Head of Planning Will Grundy, Strategy Director Claire Strickett, Senior Planner Sarah Benson, Joint CEO Mat Goff, Managing Partner Polly Dedman, Business Director Louis Lunts, Account Directors Charlie Simpson, Charlotte Ellison, Rosie Snowball and Pablo Arango, plus Account Manager Irina Patrichi.

The design agency was Pentagram, the production company was Pulse Films, the editing company was TenThree, with audio post by 750mph and music by Soundtree, adaptation was by cain&abel, with PR Agencie: FleishmanHillard, Porter Novelli and Portland and the media agency was Omnicom Media Group.

Comment

This rights owner campaign has similar themes to UK broadcaster Channel 4’s ‘Super. Human’ Tokyo 2020 Paralympics promotion which also eschews previous portrayals of Paralympians as ‘superhumans’ and instead focuses on deeper aspects of the athletes’ humanity and on emphasising the blood, sweat and sacrifice behind their quest for gold.