Channel 4 has launched the follow-up to its critically acclaimed Meet The Superhumans trailer from 2012 with a new three-minute film to promote its Rio 2016 Paralympics coverage, featuring more than 100 disabled people from all walks of life.
We’re The Superhumans is the network’s sequel to the multi-award-winning Meet the Superhumans campaign for the London 2012 Paralympics, which helped shift perceptions of disability within the UK.
The three-minute film, devised by Channel 4’s in-house 4creative team and directed by Blink Productions’ Dougal Wilson, features a cast of more than 140 disabled people, including Paralympic athletes, musicians and members of the public from all walks of life – and celebrates the abilities of people with a range of impairments.
It includes inspirational scenes such as a mother with no arms holding her baby with her feet; children with prosthetic limbs running, jumping, and playing football; and a woman flying a plane with her feet.
It is believed to include more disabled people than ever before featured in a UK advert.
The promo is set to the iconic Sammy Davis Jr track, Yes I Can, which has been re-recorded by a specially assembled band of disabled musicians drawn from around the world, The Superhumans Band, featuring lead vocalist Tony Dee.
It was recorded in the famous Studio 2 of Abbey Road studios and the track will be released by Universal Music with all profits being donated towards the British Paralympics Association.
‘We’re The Superhumans’ is the most accessible campaign ever produced by Channel 4, with subtitled, signed and audio described versions available online.
The advert is being premiered at a star-studded event at Channel 4’s Horseferry Road headquarters before being launched across Facebook, Twitter and YouTube at 8pm on Thursday, July 14, and then broadcast as a road-block across Channel 4’s portfolio of channels at 9pm on Friday, July 15.
Channel 4’s Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Dan Brooke said: “We’re the Superhumans is an unbridled celebration of ability, by both elite Paralympians and everyday people.
“In 2012 we saw athletes like never before, but now we see that Down’s Syndrome graduates and wheelchair users in the workplace are just as Superhuman as blind sprinters and amputee weightlifters.
“With our unique remit to champion diversity, innovation and new talent, the Paralympics is a public service bullseye for Channel 4.
“This campaign is the most important we have ever undertaken and isn’t just about Rio, it’s about revolutionising public attitudes to disability forever.”
In 2012, Channel 4’s Meet the Superhumans campaign had a huge public impact and helped drive more than 11 million viewers to the opening night of the corporation’s live coverage of the London Paralympic Games.
The multi-award-winning ad was named Campaign of the Year and, alongside Channel 4’s BAFTA-winning coverage of the Games, helped to change attitudes to disability sport and disability more generally.
Channel 4’s latest Paralympics marketing campaign will help promote its coverage of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, which will include more than 700 hours of sport broadcast across Channel 4 platforms and feature the largest ever team of disabled presenters on UK television.
