#WeThe15 paints the town purple

Launching prior to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, adam&eveDDB and International Paralympic Committee (IPC)'s bold and venturesome #WeThe15 sets out to become the world’s biggest ever human rights movement for the world’s 1.2 billion persons with disabilities.

Led by a terrific film from Pulse Films' Sam Pilling, which takes on numerous voices to express the normality of disability (a topic prevalent in Channel 4's Super. Human. too), the campaign is propelled by an unmissable global launch moment, in which 125 landmarks across 6 continents around the world will light up in purple, including the Empire State Building, the London Eye, the Colosseum, Niagara Falls and the world’s tallest tower, Skytree in Tokyo.

What's more, the movement is will be given extra prevalence with dozens of organisations and brands, including Allianz, Coca Cola, Facebook, Twitter, Intel, BP, Visa and many more, showing their support by sharing bespoke content, updated logos, and their plans for progressing the inclusivity agenda, as well as Pilling's film being screened by multiple broadcasters around the world including Channel 4 and NBC during the Paralympic Games and broadcast live to an audience of over 250 million worldwide during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony. 

Above: Examples of the lights, in situ.

Pentagram designer Harry Pearce’s striking identity for #WeThe15 includes a wordmark, a symbol, and sonic branding by Yuri Suzuki. The wordmark echoes the hashtag (to ensure maximum visibility across social media) and the symbol is a clear visual representation of what the percentage actually looks like. Throughout the Paralympic Games, athletes will wear temporary tattoos made from the #WeThe15 symbol.

The movement, #WeThe15, takes its name from the 15% of the global population who have a disability: the world’s largest marginalised group forgotten by the inclusivity agenda. For these 1.2 billion people, access to basic human rights such as healthcare, education and employment, are at best limited and at worst non-existent, making it harder for people with disabilities to live, work, thrive, or even survive.   

Spearheaded by the IPC and International Disability Alliance, #WeThe15 sees the largest-ever coalition of organisations unite behind this cause – 20 in total, including UN Human Rights, UNESCO, Special Olympics, and The Valuable 500  - with the goal of putting people with disabilities at the heart of the inclusivity agenda.