Paralympians face the forces of nature

Gravity, friction, time... they're all against you. Forces that want to slow you down, push you over and pull you along the ground. 

That's according to this fantastic new campaign for Channel 4's coverage of this year's Paralympics Games in Paris, which asks people to view Paralympians as elite, world-class athletes rather than as competitors 'overcoming' their disabilities, and brings these challenging elements to life. 

Gravity is personified as an odious, shirtless man clutching a pint of beer beside wheelchair rugby star Aaron Phipps, while Friction is seen an abrasive boy-racer in a bright yellow sports car as multi-gold Paralympic medallist Sarah Storey races on her bike. Time, meanwhile, is an impassive, unimpressed woman in the stands as Paralympic sprinter Emmanuel Oyinbo-Coker helplessly drifts towards the back of the race.

The campaign is called Considering What? and was created in-house at 4Creative London and directed by Steve Rogers through Biscuit Filmworks UK x Revolver, with the brilliant sound design created via Factory Studios. The 140-second film captures the reactions of people as they watch Paralympic sport; reactions which, although well intentioned, are misguided and don’t appreciate Paralympians as world class athletes. 

It comes after research commissioned by Channel 4 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”. 

Above: The accompanying Out of Home campaign for this year's Paralympics. 

The campaign follows on from previous Channel 4 Paralympic spots such as Meet The Superhumans, We're the Superhumans, and Super. Human., and is the first Channel 4 campaign not to feature the word Superhuman. 

“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," said Lynsey Atkin, Executive Creative Director of 4creative. "They offer no head starts, no free passes, no patronising pat on the head and another go around. Excellence is excellent, no caveats. 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!”

The film is supported by an OOH campaign [above] which goes live across the UK on 12th August and features 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 addition to the OOH campaign Channel 4 has also commissioned a striking mural [below], situated at Village Underground in London's Shoreditch and created by artist Florence Burns, who is herself disabled. The mural, created with experiential agency Fever, will be remain in place until 5th August.