Channel 4’s ad for Rio Paralympics 2016 is great, joyous fun, starring more than 140 disabled people, not just athletes. Via Adweek:
Channel 4 CMO Dan Brooke describes the tone as “an unbridled celebration of ability, by both elite Paralympians and everyday people. In 2012, we saw athletes like never before, but now we see that Down syndrome graduates and wheelchair users in the workplace are just as superhuman as blind sprinters and amputee weightlifters.”
Casting was “essential to this piece of work,” adds Alice Tonge, creative director at 4Creative. “We did a massive search to find people all over the world who have turned ‘No, I can’t’ into ‘Yes, I can.’ ”
The message is considerably broader in scope and more sweeping than the 2012 spot, and the nonstop positive vibes—driven by imaginative set pieces and inspired editing—are incredibly infectious.
“This campaign is the most important we have ever undertaken, and isn’t just about Rio. It’s about revolutionizing public attitudes to disability forever,” Brooke says.
Indeed, the spot transcends its specific marketing mission and envisions a world in which all people can find fulfillment and achieve to the absolute best of their ability. It may well be one of the most inclusive ads ever made, presenting the integration of disabled people into virtually every aspect of daily existence with Glee-style musical abandon. Particularly striking are its playful, surreal touches. These include a tap-dance routine with performers ringed by high-steppin’, disembodied carbon-fiber legs, and big-band singer Tony Dee trading his fedora for a crash helmet and driving his wheelchair through a window.