Global banking and financial services firm Citi launched its newest ad campaign for the 2024 Paralympics.
Based on an idea from Paralympians, "What Happened?" aims to challenge the perceptions people may have of adaptive athletes and individuals with disabilities.
The campaign spotlights six Team Citi Paralympians:
- Alice Tai (Para Swimming – Great Britain)
- Diede de Groot (Wheelchair Tennis – Netherlands)
- Lauren Steadman (Paratriathlon – Great Britain)
- Ntando Mahlangu (Para Track and Field – South Africa)
- Scout Bassett (Para Track and Field – USA)
- Trey Jenifer (Wheelchair Basketball – USA)
The spots are an evolution of the bank's previous Paralympic campaign, "Stare at Greatness," which highlighted how people are usually told not to stare at those with disabilities — but what if they were a Paralympic gold medalist?
This time, the spot flips the script on a question commonly asked of them.
"Through this campaign, Citi is opening the door for a dialogue that fosters a change of perceptions and highlights Paralympians' incredible accomplishments with content shown through the lens of each athlete," Tina Davis, Head of Enterprise Marketing and Brand Engagement at Citi, told DesignRush.
Running across linear and digital, the campaign will last for the duration of the Paralympic Games.
Citi's campaign is one of the few made especially for the Paralympics, a refreshing take on Olympics marketing with powerful themes.
Achievements, Not Struggles
The first spot stars Paralympic gold medalist Alice Tai, opening with the athlete entering a music shop.
As she walks through the room, two young girls look curiously, asking each other, "What happened?
"I'll tell you what happened," Tai replies, as the scene cuts to a montage of the athlete competing in a swimming tourney.
"It was the last lap. I trained my entire life for this moment," she continues, narrating over a shot of her gliding through the water.
"I knew exactly how I was going to do it, and that's exactly what I did. That's what happened," she concludes, proudly.
We’re helping to bring awareness to Para sports while creating inclusive opportunities along the way.
— Citi (@Citi) July 23, 2024
Hear from @alice__tai and @ScoutBassett on how we’re helping change the narrative around Para athletes. #TeamCitipic.twitter.com/kciND6u0YR
The spot uses powerful footage of the athlete in action as a simple response to the reductive question, empowering the athlete and her audience alike.
A second spot, starring wheelchair basketball star Trey Jenifer, follows the same format.
The athlete tells his story after a curious child asks him "What happened?" from across a restaurant.
"The number one guy on their team, that's who I wanted," Jenifer responds, as the spot shows intense clips from an action-packed wheelchair basketball match.
"You throw yourself against the best, until you are the best. And in that game? I was. That's what happened," he concludes, emphasizing how the love of competition transcends everything.
Each spot ends with the campaign's ethos, "For the love of changing perceptions. For the love of progress."
"Our support of Para sports and Para athletes provides a powerful platform to change perceptions of people living with disabilities. Across Citi, there is tremendous momentum to build on our efforts to create a more diverse, equitable and inclusive culture," Davis told DesignRush.
By elevating Paralympic athletes as inspirational figures, the campaign does its part in dispelling the notion of something negative having "happened" to the athletes.
Instead, the spots take a look at their great achievements, ascribing new meaning to disabilities: not just as obstacles, but as parts of what makes them great athletes.
Editing by Katherine 'Makkie' Maclang
