We're the Superhumans
Agency |
|
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Client | Channel 4 |
Release date(s) | 15 July 2016 |
We're the Superhumans is a
Serving as a follow-up to
We're the Superhumans received wide acclaim, and won the overall award in film at the 2017
Production
Channel 4 acquired the UK television rights to the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, succeeding the BBC. Through a major advertising campaign, the broadcaster sought to promote the Paralympics as being an "event in its own right", as opposed to an afterthought to the Olympic Games which precede them. An aspect of this campaign was a trailer entitled "Meet the Superhumans", which showcased the athletic and "superhuman" qualities of Paralympic sport.[3][4] The advert was widely acclaimed, and won a Golden Lion at the 2013 Cannes Lions Festival in June 2013, but lost the Grand Prix to the railway safety PSA Dumb Ways to Die. Sir John Hegarty, the jury president, explained that "When you've got some really outstanding work it is tragic in some ways it can't get a bigger award, but there can only be one grand prix", while jury member Carlo Cavallone added "[Meet the Superhumans] is an amazing campaign, one of the golds that went through [the judging process] immediately ... Everyone felt it had the highest level of craft. It puts an issue that was really important before London 2012 to raise awareness of the Paralympics [and] they were hyper successful — Dumb Ways to Die was a tough contender."[5]
We're the Superhumans was produced by
Over 140 people with disabilities from various countries were cast for the ad,[6] including 39 Paralympic athletes.[2][7] Notable people appearing in the ad included wheelchair stunt performer Aaron Fotheringham, Polish driver Bartek Ostalowski (who began driving adapted race cars after losing his arms in a motorcycle accident),[7] Jessica Cox (an American who was the first armless person to earn a pilot's certificate),[7][8] as well as British Paralympic athletes Natalie Blake, Hannah Cockroft, Matthew Phillips, and Ellie Simmonds.[7]
The advert is set to a cover of the
Release and reception
We're the Superhumans premiered on 15 July 2016.
Within four days of its premiere, We're the Superhumans was viewed at least 23 million times online.[7] The introduction of the advert and its associated campaign had a higher percentage of user engagement on Twitter than the release of the BBC's 2016 Summer Olympics trailer.[10] The recording of "Yes I Can" was released as a charity single through Universal Music Group, with proceeds benefiting the British Paralympic Association.[1] On 29 July 2016, Tim Worner, CEO of the Seven Network—the new rightsholder of the Paralympics in Australia as of 2016, stated at the Sports Marketing Summit that it would be making a localised version of the campaign to promote its inaugural coverage.[11]
Adweek described the ad as being "joyous" and "awesomely over-the-top", stating that "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."[6] At the 2017 Cannes Lions Festival, We're the Superhumans finished in second place for Film Craft, and won the Grand Prix for film. Acknowledging its diversity and gender equality, jury president Pete Kavat stated that the advert was "bold" and "proud", and "pushes humanity forward".[12]
The advert was criticised for allegedly portraying unrealistic expectations of people with disabilities;
Similarly, University of Ottawa PhD candidate Celeste Orr criticised the ad and the concept of a "superhuman" portrayal of disabled people in general as an example of the "supercrip" stereotype, explaining that "promoting the idea that people with disabilities can overcome their disabilities, be happy, and even become amazing elite athletes if they shift their attitudes – if they just declare, 'Yes I can' – encourages enabled individuals to think of disability as a personal issue, not a socio-political issue that they influence. Inspiration porn, such as 'We're the Superhumans,' helps enabled people remain complicit in reproducing literal and symbolic ableist structures and ideologies."[9][15]
To ensure that the advert's portrayal of people with disabilities were not skewed towards unrealistic expectations, Channel 4 had worked with partner charities, including
References
- ^ a b c d ""We're The Superhumans" Celebrates The 2016 Paralympics". FastCoCreate. Fast Company. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f "Anatomy of an Ad: How Channel 4 told the story of the humans behind the Superhumans". The Drum. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Ad of the Day: Paralympic Games Forget the Olympics. This is the summer's most stunning sports commercial". Adweek. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
- ^ Usborne, Simon (19 July 2012). "Paralympics: Channel 4's superhuman effort". The Independent. London. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
- ^ Sweney, Mark (22 June 2013). "Cannes Lions: Dumb Ways to Die scoops top award". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
- ^ a b c d e "Ad of the Day: Stunning New 'Superhumans' Paralympics Spot Goes Well Beyond Sport". Adweek. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Khaleeli, Homa (20 July 2016). "We're the Superhumans: meet the stars of Channel 4's Paralympics trailer". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
- ^ Gargulinski, Ryn (2 December 2008). "New feat with her feet: Tucsonan, born minus arms, earns pilot's license". Tucson Citizen. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ a b c d "Calgarian Alvin Law defends Paralympics music video featuring people with disabilities". CBC News. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Channel 4's 'We're the Superhumans' Paralympics ad is racing ahead of BBC's Rio 2016 campaign in terms of social engagement". The Drum. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Seven to remake UK Paralympics 'We're The Superhumans' campaign". MuMBrella. 28 July 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "'We're the Superhumans' Wins Film Grand Prix at Cannes to Massive Applause". Adweek. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
- ^ "Rio Paralympics 2016: Where is the Australian version of 'We are the Superhumans'?". Sydney Morning Herald. 27 July 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ Pepper, Penny (6 September 2016). "Turning Paralympians into 'superhumans' is no help to disabled people". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ Orr, Celeste. "Orr: Don't make the Paralympics into inspiration porn". Ottawa Citizen. Postmedia Network. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
External links
- We're the Superhumans on YouTube