As the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games fast approaches, Channel 4 has kickstarted its new, challenging campaign, ‘Considering What?’. 4creative, its in-house agency, produced the film to fight inaccurate perceptions of and patronising attitudes towards the Paralympics.

The campaign launched in mid-July to celebrate the Paralympic Games 2024 which will start on the 28th of August and run until the 8th of September. ‘Considering What?’ is a campaign born of research commissioned by Channel 4.

The research found that “see[ing] athletes overcoming their disabilities” was the reason that 59% of people watch the Paralympic Games while just 37% watch for “exciting sporting competition”.

After uncovering this widespread perception of Paralympians, 4creative set about to challenge these attitudes. The campaign demonstrates how elements of sport do not consider disability and therefore the sporting excellence achieved by Paralympians is simply sporting excellence.

The film features athletes of ParalympicsGB, including Aaron Phipps, Dame Sarah Storey, Emmanuel Oyinbo-Coker, Joseph Lane, Emma Wiggs, Olivia Broome and Alfie Hewett. Whilst showcasing their incredible talents, the film demonstrates that the unstoppable elements involved in sport don’t care about disability.

In the hero video, audiences are challenged to reconsider the idea that Paralympic greatness is limited and can only come with consideration. Through personifications of gravity, friction and time, the film conveys that uncontrollable elements don’t make exceptions for any athletes, not even those with a disability.

It opens with Gravity, an odious, shirtless man equipped with a pint of beer and cackling at the Paralympic wheelchair rugby star, Aaron Phipps, eventually causing him to fall.

Friction is an abrasive racer in a loud yellow sports car, causing damage to his tyres and multi-gold Paralympic medallist, Sarah Storey. Due to Friction, she slides off course and is dragged across the rough ground.

Time is a woman watching Paralympic sprinter, Emmanuel Oyinbo-Coker from the stadium stands. With a stopwatch and hourglass in hand, she taunts the athlete as he runs his race.

The film shows various viewers watching Paralympians compete. They share comments like “He’s incredible for someone like that” and “They’re so brave”, before “She’s doing so well, considering” is met with the rebuttal, “Considering what?”.

Including these patronising comments means the campaign combats prevalent attitudes around Paralympians head-on. As Lynsey Atkin, Executive Creative Director of 4creative, aptly summarises: “Excellence is excellent, no caveats. How strange that as audiences we watch one of the world’s most elite sporting events with our heads tilted and our amazement seemingly tempered”.

Atkin explains, “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. They offer no head starts, no free passes, no patronising pat on the head and another go around”.

Before the athletes conquer Gravity, Friction, and Time, the hero video flashes a series of statements on the screen. We read, ‘[x] doesn’t care about disability’, where ‘x’ is replaced with ‘sport’, ‘gravity’, ‘friction’, ‘time’, ‘wind’, ‘heat’, ‘force’, and finally ‘sport’ again - driving the message home.

Alongside the hero video, the campaign is rolling out out-of-home assets, where well-intentioned but patronising phrases are adjusted to convey the ‘Considering What?’ message. The sentiment is echoed in a mural located at Village Underground in Shoreditch, London, created by Florence Burns, who is herself disabled. Her mural was created with the help of experiential agency, Fever.

The ‘Considering What?’ campaign marks a change from the previous Channel 4 platform for the Paralympics, ‘Superhumans’, shifting the focus towards “athletic prowess”.

As Katie Jackson, Channel 4’s Chief Marketing Officer, describes: “The Paralympics is one of the greatest sporting events in the world, drawing many millions of viewers. And that’s just it. This is sport, where athletic prowess takes centre stage and excellence wins above all else”.

Showcasing the sheer skill, talent, and capabilities of Paralympians, the new Channel 4 campaign, ‘Consider What?’ challenges attitudes ahead of the Paralympic Games. In the lead-up to Paris 2024, Channel 4 is tackling patronising sentiments head-on, demonstrating the undeniable athletic excellence of those competing.