15% of the world’s population live with disabilities. As the world’s largest minority, they face daily stigmatisation and exclusion from society. Furthermore, the issue of disability inclusion rarely reaches the top of the public agenda. This makes disability both a huge human rights issue, and a huge opportunity to effect change in awareness and attitudes at a global level.

We created a movement FROM, not just FOR, the 15%.

With a rallying name, “WeThe15”, that the community could take ownership of and use however they wanted.

A rallying cry: See us, Hear us, Include us

A simple, unforgettable logo that could be adopted to show inclusion or allyship.

An iconic purple colour we set out to own.

A simple message - that the 15% exist, deserve to be seen and included, and deserve to be seen as no more and no less than “wonderfully ordinary”.

And we organised and rallied a coalition of 20 global organisations to back us.

An all-encompassing, phased global launch, leveraging the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics and harnessing sport’s unique ability to engage international audiences and create positive change.

The strategy was to:

1. Make the invisible 15% literally visible for a day, to see and celebrate the entire community as they are.

2. Rewrite and seed a new narrative on behalf of the 15% - and what better day to halt the ‘rise superhero’ narrative than the first day of the Paralympics?

3. Ensure that the change in tone comes from the top and every person with a disability sees the support to stop the use of problematic ‘inspiration porn’.

We identified the Tokyo Paralympic Games as the moment to launch.

With the world’s attention concentrated and the discourse around disability at its peak, it was the perfect opportunity.

We took over the Games’ Opening Ceremony - lighting it up purple, beaming out our logo.

We used the power of film to direct the attention of the 250m people watching to our cause. Our film featured a diverse cast of people with disabilities, addressing the world with candour and humour, urging them to see the 15% as wonderfully ordinary.

We filled OOH sites around the world with our branding and statistics highlighting the scale of change needed, including iconic sites like Times Square and Piccadilly Lights.

225 landmarks over 6 continents lit up purple in an unmissable show of solidarity.

Our logo was adopted by the community on social media.

It was even sported by Paralympic athletes as (temporary!) tattoos.

The impact on disability rights and recognition was unprecedented. Powerful organisations from the United Nations to UNESCO committed to tangible change as a result of the campaign, and we drove an unmissable global conversation about disability inclusion, earning 3000+ pieces of worldwide media coverage and reaching almost 80% of the world’s population. From global figures such as Prince Harry, Ellie Simmonds and Selma Blair, to the 200K tweeters that engaged with our campaign - all began to turn the tide on a society that has ignored disabled voices for far too long. WeThe15 made its impact on attitudes too, with stereotypes dissolving and the narrative around the Paralympic Games becoming importantly nuanced: “Such an incredibly funny and humanizing video, and the end felt like a total mic drop to me” – said one commenter.