Channel 4 has awarded Maltesers and AMV BBDO £1 million of commercial airtime as part of its Superhumans Wanted initiative to encourage brands and agencies to feature disability in their ad campaigns.
The winning campaign, which stood out among almost 90 entries, will be revealed in an exclusive launch spot in the 2016 Rio Paralympics Opening Ceremony on 7 September and will run across the 4 Sales channel network throughout the autumn.
“The massive response and quality of the entries surpassed all our expectations,” said Jonathan Allan, sales director at Channel 4.
“The bold ad idea from Maltesers and AMV BBDO saw the judges unanimously agree that this was the showpiece to not only make a statement to viewers, but to encourage the industry to approach TV ad campaigns differently to be inclusive of disability.
“Having seen some absolutely brilliant scripts as part of this competition, we would like to work with all the shortlisted brands who want to make their ads to help get as many of these rich ideas onto TV as possible to improve disability representation in commercial airtime.”
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The other seven brands and agencies shortlisted were: Amazon and Lucky Generals; Barclays and BBH London; Dove and Ogilvy; H&M and adam&eveDDB; Lloyds Bank and adam&eveDDB: Lynx and TMW Unlimited; and Purdey’s and iris Worldwide.
Minister for Disabled People, Justin Tomlinson MP, said: “We want to change attitudes towards disabled people for good, and to do that we need everyone to get involved: Channel 4 should be commended for recognising the crucial role of the media in creating a more inclusive society.”
In January, Channel 4 announced that 2016 would see it invest in major new commitments to boost on and off screen representation of disabled people – including doubling the number of disabled people appearing in 20 of Channel 4’s biggest shows.
Additionally, £300,000 will be invested in new talent initiatives; and within Channel 4, half of all the broadcaster’s apprenticeships and 30% of all its work experience placements will be ring-fenced for disabled people.
