#WeThe15

Adam & Eve and DDB’s powerful opening film for the Tokyo Paralympics is making waves.

Created by Selma Ahmed and Genevieve Gransden and directed by Sam Pilling at Pulse Films, the campaign for the International Paralympic Committee launched yesterday, seeking to redirect the narrative around Paralympic athletes, away from stereotyping and ‘othering’.

Speaking to Campaign, A&E/DDB Chief Creative Officer Richard Brim explains: “There are 1.2 billion disabled people in the world. And if you think about it in that context, that’s 15% of the world’s population that is disabled (and that does include invisible disabilities too). Representation is just not the case; you don’t see 15% of the people walking down the street with a disability.

So we said: they need to be seen. They are 15% of the world and they need to be seen. We need a rolling thunder for the next 10 years. Let’s set ourselves some goals and objectives in that 10 years to normalise and shine the light on, and make people be seen. So we came up with this idea, WeThe15 and we believe the 15 deserves to be seen.”

The campaign shows a clear move away from the ‘superhuman’ ideal often used in Paralympic advertising, instead emphasising the sense of community — both within the Olympic world, and the individual communities that these athletes inhabit.

This new direction has received support from a huge variety of sources, with corporate sponsors due to release companion content, and Prince Harry weighing in with his perspective from the Invictus games.

“One of the reasons why I was inspired to create the Invictus Games was to help destigmatise physical and invisible injuries and give the men and women who have experienced them a platform to show the world that they and we can accomplish anything, when we put our mind to it.

“Everybody at the Invictus Games Foundation is honoured to join the WeThe15 campaign and believe in its mission to inspire meaningful change in communities around the world.” — Prince Harry

Around the world more than 125 iconic landmarks, spanning 30 countries and multiple time-zones will be lit up purple, the international colour for disability to celebrate the launch of #WeThe15 today, signifying unity behind the cause, and strengthening the brand identity of this new campaign.