Orange: THE GREATEST RUN
Orange wanted to leverage its Paris 2024 partnership to elevate the Paralympic Games. Publicis Conseil was tasked with moving beyond traditional inspirational tropes to prove that Paralympic athletes are elite competitors. The goal was to engage sports fans globally and challenge the unconscious bias that views disability sports as less thrilling or technically inferior to the Olympics.
Creative Idea
Used a split-screen race to reveal Paralympic runners outpaced the Olympic gold medalist.
Orange used a split-screen race comparison to reveal that the 2016 Paralympic 1500m winner actually outpaced the Olympic gold medalist, using undeniable data to shatter the unconscious bias that disability sports are less competitive or impressive.
Four Runners Who Beat the Olympic Gold
The Rio Miracle data point
The campaign centers on a singular historical anomaly from the Rio 2016 Games that remains the only instance in history where the top four finishers in a Paralympic final - Abdellatif Baka, Tamiru Demisse, Henry Kirwa, and Fouad Baka - all ran faster than the Olympic gold medalist in the same event. While Olympic winner Matthew Centrowitz Jr. clocked a 3:50.00, Abdellatif Baka set a world record of 3:48.29. By focusing on this objective data, the creative team moved the conversation away from "inspiration porn" toward pure athletic performance.
Synchronized split screen storytelling
To execute the visual "perception flip," Publicis Conseil and production house Prodigious utilized a meticulous split-screen and synchronized editing technique. The film intentionally mirrors the visual language of a standard Olympic broadcast to lure viewers into a familiar headspace before revealing the Paralympic reality. This technical choice was designed by Creative Directors Romulus Petcan and Gabriel Gherca to force a confrontation with unconscious bias.
High resonance and agency legacy
The strategy proved highly effective, earning a System1 Effectiveness Score of 4.6 stars, which signals exceptional long-term brand-building potential. Beyond its millions of organic views, the film maintained a sentiment score of over 85% positive. This project was a cornerstone in the streak that saw Publicis Conseil named Agency of the Year at Cannes Lions for two consecutive years. As Global CCO Marco Venturelli noted, the goal was to prove that the only difference between the two games is the way the audience chooses to look at them.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
A long-standing partnership with major sporting events and a commitment to inclusive digital and physical connectivity.
Category
Focus on the inspirational struggle of para-athletes rather than their elite-level competitive performance and raw speed.
Customer
Acknowledge the skill of para-athletes but unconsciously view their achievements as secondary to able-bodied Olympic standards.
Culture
The global spotlight of the Paris 2024 Games and a growing demand for authentic, performance-based representation.
Company
A long-standing partnership with major sporting events and a commitment to inclusive digital and physical connectivity.
Category
Focus on the inspirational struggle of para-athletes rather than their elite-level competitive performance and raw speed.
Strategy:
Leverage objective performance metrics to dismantle subjective biases and equalize the perceived value of elite competition.
Customer
Acknowledge the skill of para-athletes but unconsciously view their achievements as secondary to able-bodied Olympic standards.
Culture
The global spotlight of the Paris 2024 Games and a growing demand for authentic, performance-based representation.
Strategy:
Leverage objective performance metrics to dismantle subjective biases and equalize the perceived value of elite competition.
Strategy Technique
Turn Data Into Drama
By weaponizing a shocking historical statistic, the campaign transforms a dry sports record into a powerful emotional narrative that challenges deep-seated cultural prejudices.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Reverse Expectations
The film begins as a standard sports comparison but flips the audience's assumption by revealing the Paralympic athletes were faster, forcing a total re-evaluation of athletic performance.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
The ad's power lies in its clever use of split-screen editing and synchronized commentary to challenge perceptions of Paralympic sports.
The split-screen comparison is perfectly timed to highlight the similarities and the surprising difference between the two races.
The synchronized commentary from both the Olympic and Paralympic broadcasts creates a unified and compelling narrative.
The combination of the split-screen visuals and the dual commentary creates a powerful 'aha' moment that effectively communicates the campaign's message.
