Apple’s new accessibility film celebrates athletes—with and without disabilities

A year and a half after releasing its lauded, Emmy-winning film “The Greatest,” Apple is back with another high-profile accessibility ad, this time delving into the world of sports. It comes just as the Paris Olympics have wrapped up and with the Paralympics two weeks away. Ad Age Creativity Bookmark our section covering the best in brand creativity every day Read more here Called “The Relay,” the four-minute spot (below) was made in-house and directed by Derek Cianfrance of RadicalMedia. It presents eight athletes—four with disabilities, and four without—who compete in a four-stage relay race. The disabled athletes include a cyclist with an upper limb difference, a wheelchair racer, a low-vision swimmer and a blade runner. All of the athletes are seen using Apple devices in their daily routines. The only difference is that the disabled athletes use Apple’s accessibility features to navigate their lives, including their training. (These include AssistiveTouch, Magnifier, Point and Speak, Wheelchair Workouts and third-party apps such as Össur’s i-Limb, which helps users control the grip of their bionic prosthetics.) The result is a race that can be truly equal. This is emphasized in the training footage and the race footage itself, where the athletes’ grit, determination, sacrifice—and results—are clearly comparable. The ad was led creatively by Alice Tonge, executive creative director at Apple in London. She also created “The Greatest.” The onscreen talent are all highly competitive athletes from around the world, some of whom are contenders to compete at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. An evolution in disability portrayal In some ways, the film continues an evolution in the portrayal of disabled athletes in advertising. Channel 4’s famous “Superhumans” Paralympics campaign, the gold standard in the space creatively for a dozen years, was completely revamped this year following criticism that the approach (including the term “superhuman”) reinforced age-old stereotypes that disabled people are not quite human. Portraying them as eminently human—equal to every other athlete—tracks with Apple’s decades-long approach to inclusive design. “At Apple we have a long-standing commitment to accessibility, and we design our products for everybody. This is as true for athletes as it is for anyone,” Tor Myhren, VP of marketing communications at Apple, said in an interview. Cianfrance, known for his dramas “Blue Valentine” and “The Place Beyond the Pines”—as well as ads including Hennessy’s portrayal of late 1800s cycling champion Major Taylor—filmed “The Relay” in real time on seven different cameras, to create an accurate record of the competition. “Derek Cianfrance makes films that move viewers deeply in their representation of the human experience,” Myhren said. “His willingness to engage early with the cast, and craft the work around them and their lives, was integral to the film’s authentic depiction of who they are.” As with most Apple ads, “The Relay” is very much a product ad, capturing authentic real-life use cases of the accessibility features. “The product is at the heart of all our accessibility work,” Myhren said. “How people authentically use our products and features directly informs what we depict on screen. The goal is to always be truthful to their lived experience.” Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Members of the disability community applauded the film for its human truths and how it could change people’s thinking. “As adaptive athletes, we compete with non-disabled athletes all the time. The thing that’s new is seeing it on screen,” said Jack Cunningham, a double amputee and adaptive sprinter featured in “The Relay.” “But when I race, I just compete with my friends like everyone else. When you line up on the starting line, no one is thinking about what you do or don’t have. You just want to win.” “ ‘The Relay’ is a great example of how media can change perceptions and tell powerful untold stories,” said Kara Sterner, chief marketing officer of Challenged Athletes Foundation, which has worked with Apple for years on developing accessibility features. “The authenticity, meaningful intention and beauty of the film honors competitive athletes across all abilities.” The film went live Wednesday morning on YouTube and Apple.com. Portraits of the athletes will appear on Apple’s Instagram. View this post on Instagram A post shared by apple (@apple)

Apple’s new accessibility film celebrates athletes—with and without disabilities

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