These Striking Ads Juxtapose Olympic Heroics With Refugees' Struggle to Survive

Some news both excites and terrifies communities. One such example is winning the bid to host the 2024 Olympics, as Paris learned it did last month. Such an honor is a mixed blessing, but that's hardly France's biggest problem right now. In case anybody forgot, we still have a refugee crisis on our hands. To this end, human rights organization La Cimade launched "Living Is Winning." As glorified sports advertising ramps up, the awareness campaign is determined to remind us of the thousands who commit feats of athletic prowess for greater stakes than medals. Three 30-second ads were created and directed by Josiane Paris' Valentin Guiod and adam&eveDDB London's Min-Hyung Choi, with support from Josiane. "Swim" opens with a close-up of a drenched, tremulating face as crowds cheer on all sides. "In 2024, athletes will swim to win," it tells us. [kickout id="1"] A beating heart punctuates the work. As the camera pans out and the cheering fades, the man before us turns out not to be an Olympic swimmer at all. He's alone, prostrate on a beach, partially covered in a space blanket. And the look we initially mistook for determination becomes abject exhaustion. "Every day, refugees swim to live," the ad concludes. The ads that follow continue in this vein. What's impressive is how easily the work manipulates our ability to gauge emotion, like an adland version of Magic Eye: Every look can be read from the framework of competitive spirit, until you get context, which changes your reading of that expression forever. In "Jump," the look in that first close-up almost seems playful, measuring a friendly foe. How high was his bar set? [kickout id="2"] As the scene widens, what we see is, of course, not a bar but an apartheid wall. Last comes "Run," whose first shot frames the hardened eyes of a woman in hijab. If you didn't know better, it would be easy to imagine where that hardness comes from: It was only last year that the U.S. saw its first hijab-wearing Olympian, sabre fencing champion Ibtihaj Muhammad. [kickout id="3"] But there is no Usain Bolt moment here. As the woman collapses, exhausted, other runners divide to pass her by. "We can never say enough how much force and courage these women and men need to risk their lives in search for a better place beside us, where they hope to live in dignity," says president Geneviève Jacques of La Cimade. "Protecting human dignity and social inclusion is at the heart of La Cimade’s mission since 1939. Our organization will double our efforts to continue to host, help and support refugees, but also raise awareness of their alarming situation among the wider public." Each ad's description reads, "For all the refugees, living is already winning," a more elaborate take on the #LivingIsWinning hashtag. It intentionally launched the day after Paris was named host of the 2024 Olympics. On top of a subsite and three films, posters were created with help from award-winning photographer Espen Rasmussen. "As a photojournalist, my hope and goal is always to open the eyes of the public—to create discussions, raise awareness and inform. To show people’s struggle, but also to show hope," Rasmussen says. "That is why I provided images from my work to this campaign—so that all of us can learn something and hopefully react, with our mind and heart." Tens of thousands of people are still arriving in France each year. In July, the country committed to increase housing for refugees after the mayor of Grand-Synthe, a town not far from Dunkirk, tweeted photos of children living in a nearby refugee camp. France recently also committed to welcome 10,000 refugees from non-E.U. countries. That's good news for the people lucky enough to arrive. As "Living Is Winning" illustrates, however, achieving that much is already a feat, and many don't make it: Just Monday, a boat of Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar capsized, leaving at least 12 dead and more missing. Many of the occupants were children. CREDITS Client : La Cimade Agency : Josiane Creative team : Valentin Guiod (Josiane Paris) and Min-Hyung Choi (adam&eveDDB London) Head of Agency : Laurent Allias, Baptiste Thiery Head of production : Laure Castagné Account Manager : Aida Khalfi Film credits : Production : OTSOParis Production Manager : Maxime Fossen Production Assistant : Marie-Paule Patole Film Director : Valentin Guiod DOP : Elodie Tahtane, Martin Laugery Camera Assistant : Jodie Arnoux, Raphael Aprikian Key Grip : Brice Bourdet Make up artist : Mélanie Rathelot Fashion : Joana Dacheville, Dabby Naval Color Grading : Arthur Paux Music : Edouard Druot, Equipment : RVZ Post-production : Delapost Making-off director : Gladys Peltier Actors : Salim Fontaine, Leila Sara, Tibo Drouet Thanks to : Phillipe Guillermain et l’équipe de RVZ, L’équipe Delapost : Clémence Ripoche, & Cédric Choppin, TSF Marseile & Agnès Rivas, Toute l’équipe du film et ses comédiens, Antoine Coesens, Sara GM, Samira & Stéphane Paquier, Dahouia Maddahi, Thibaut Furic, Amaury Hotier.

AdFreak

These Striking Ads Juxtapose Olympic Heroics With Refugees' Struggle to Survive

Swimming, jumping and running for more than a medal

Angela Natividad

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Angela Natividad