A few days are left until the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games begin and, in a bid to fight for inclusivity and end discrimination towards disabled people, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), under the creative helm of agency adam&eveDDB, gathered a plethora of international organizations — including UN Human Rights, UNESCO, Special Olympics, and The Valuable 500 — and launched the #WeThe15 campaign. The title of the initiative refers to the 15% of the world’s population who live with a disability — the globe’s largest marginalized community forgotten by the inclusivity agenda. For these 1.2 billion people, access to basic human rights is limited and sometimes even non-existent, making it difficult for them to live.
The campaign sees 20 international organizations from the worlds of sports, human rights, policy, business, art, and entertainment uniting their forces for the same goal: That of placing disabled people at the center of the inclusivity agenda. #WeThe15, which aims to be the biggest ever human rights movement to represent the globe’s 15% disabled people, is led by the IPC and International Disability Alliance (IDA) which will work on engaging the government, businesses, and the public over the next ten years to initiate change for this group.
The ambitious effort includes a film by Pulse Films and director Sam Pilling and a global visual identity developed by independently-owned design studio Pentagram, with PR handled by FleishmanHillard, Porter Novelli, and Portland.
Shot in Bogota, Bangkok, London, Johannesburg, Milan, and Manila, the film will be broadcasted for the first time at the event’s opening ceremony. The two-minute-long video shines a light on some stereotypes this group has to face: They are either labeled as objects of pity, either tagged as superheroes. So, while the “pedestals are nice and the pity tolerated, we are not ‘special’,” the audience finds out from the video, “That’s not what it’s like. That’s not our reality.” But before the film comes to an end, viewers discover that “only when you see us as one of you — wonderfully ordinary, wonderfully human — only then can we all break down these barriers that keep us apart.”
Pentagram’s visual identity — outlined in a vibrant shade of purple, the international color of disability — for the #WeThe15 movement comprises a wordmark and a symbol by Harry Pearce and team and sonic branding signed by the studio’s partner Yuri Suzuki. The wordmark is implemented to ensure maximum visibility on social media platforms, while the symbol is just a visual representation of how 15% actually looks on a pie chart. In support of the initiative, athletes of the Games will carry the campaign’s signature as temporary tattoos on their skin. The audio identity was developed following several techniques so that hearing-impaired people can experience it as well.
IPC President, Andrew Parsons, said: “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.”
“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 sports 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,” Parsons added.
Mat Goff, CEO at adam&eveDDB, said: “WeThe15 gives a voice to the biggest unheard group in the Inclusion agenda. This Tokyo 2020 launch campaign is just the start of a movement that will drive real change for over a billion people worldwide. 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.”
To mark the campaign’s launch, a total of 125 iconic landmarks on six continents lit up in the color of the initiative on August 19. Dozens of brand partners also joined the campaign, with companies such as Allianz, Coca-Cola, Facebook, Twitter, Intel, BP, Visa transforming their logos and their campaigns to become 15% purple.
Credits:
Client: International Paralympic Committee
Agency: adam&eveDDB
Project: WeThe15
First Air Date: 19/08/21
Chief Creative Officer: Richard Brim
Global Creative Director: Laura Rogers
Campaign Creative Team: Edward Usher and Xander Hart
Film Creative Team: 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, 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, Pablo Arango
Account Manager: Irina Patrichi
Clients
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 Manager: Kiriah Crane, Fiona Sanna
IPC Board Member: Juan Pablo Salazar
Broadcasting Rights Manager: Daphne Chan
Branding and Design
Design agency: Pentagram
Partner: Harry Pearce
Graphic Designer: Johannes Grimmond
Graphic Designer and Animator: Tom Walker
Production: Daren Howells
Graphic Designer: Romilly Winter
Graphic Designer: Richard Clarke
Project Manager: Tiffany Fenner
Project Manager: Jane Kemp
TV Production
Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion Consultant: C Talent
Production Company: Pulse Films
Managing Director and Executive Producer: James Sorton
Executive Producer: Lucy Kelly
Executive Producer: Davud Karbassioun
Producer: David French
Director: Sam Pilling
DOP: Alex Barber, Chloë Thompson
1st AD: James Sharpe
Casting Director: Anna Stark
Production Manager: Kishan Patel & Tom Nutting
Production Assistant: Ellie Saunders Wright
Location Manager: Rupert Bowkett
Production Designer: Beck Rainford
Costume Designer: Hannah Hopkins
Service Production in South Africa: Gathouse Commercials
Executive Producer: Beverley Wynne
Line Producer: Karin Tanchel
DOP: Shaun Harley Lee
1st AD: Jaco Nel
Location Manager: Bhut Gladstone
Art Director: Willow Howell
Service Production in Bangkok: Indochina Productions
Executive Producer: Nicholas Simon
Line Producer: Atrachariya Pinitsanpirom (Bird)
DOP: Nicholas Axelrod
1st AD: Napon Limsomwong (Kwan)
Casting Director: Sarawanee Yodnoon
Service Production in Milan: Pulse Films Italia
Executive Producer: Giorgio Testi
Line Producer: Giulia Negretto
2nd Unit Director: Tobia Passigato
DOP: Diego Indraccolo
Editing Company: TenThree
Editor: Ellie Johnson, Liam Bachler, Elyse Raphael
Post Production: Untold Studios
Grade: Simon Bourne at Framestore
Post Producers: Tomek Zietkiewicz
Audio Post Production: 750mph
Audio Engineer: Sam Ashwell, Mark Hellaby
Audio Producer: Kirsten Troy, Martin Critchely
Music Company: Soundtree
Music Supervisor: Jay James & Neil Athale
Transcreation
Head of Language: Sarah Mrowicki
Senior Transcreation Account Manager: Veronica Viudas Garcia
Transcreation Account Manager: Maria Dilena
Adaptation Production and Supply
Adaptation Agency: cain&abel
Managing Partner: Mike Turnbull
Account Director: Theo Tsangarides
Senior Production Account Manager: Sophie Duncan
Account Manager: Kate Morrow
Producers: Rachel Lodge, Nicola Shanks, Mandy Amoah, Charlotte O’Reilly
Senior Producer: Laura Frischke
Editor: Adrian Scanlon
QC: Stuart Moore, Chloe Maudsley
Post Producer: Olivia Hards
Senior Post Producer: Martina Trlik
Resource Manager: Aleksandra Bulkowska
Creative Lead: Tom Lockwood
Edit/Animator: Gabi Mascarenhas, Meena Ayittey
Researcher: Beth Hill
Head of Production: Marc Dolby
Print producer: Jay Tijani
Senior Integrated Producer: Gareth Evans, Matt Thompson
Studio Artworker: David Pluckrose
+ the cain&abel studio and QA teams
PR
PR Agencies: FleishmanHillard, Porter Novelli and Portland
Media
Media agency: Omnicom Media Group