A wheelchair bound woman faces a daunting task–making it down flights of stairs to get to the metro commuter train. However, this spot shows us that things aren’t always what they seem. The woman proves she isn’t bound to the chair. And the daunting task isn’t the mundane act of making it down the many stairs; instead it’s a gymnastics run which would be ambitious even for a totally able-bodied person.
The woman, whose legs are cut off just below the shins, does a handstand on her chair, then props herself onto the nearby staircase bannister and slides down it as her empty wheelchair bounces down the steps. She grabs onto a vertical pole extending from the bannister and swings her entire body around in loops, building momentum so that she can propel herself to a horizontal pole above the staircase. Like an Olympic gymnast she then loops repeatedly around the horizontal pole, her hands holding firm before she release herself further down the stairs, does a backflip in mid-flight and lands in the wheelchair.
This spot for the Netherlands’ national Disabled Sports Foundation was directed by Olaf van Gerwen via BijBrand, Amsterdam, for agency Van Walbeek Etcetera, Amsterdam, part of the DDB Worldwide family of shops.
The agency team consisted of copywriter Stan van Zon, art director Fido van der Vlies, creative planner Chantal van Wijnbergen and producer Patrick Nelemans.
“Sports can help disabled people to live their life much more easily–and that’s exactly what the message of this commercial is about,” said van Zon. “To make people aware that sports for disabled people is not just recreation, but most of all a necessity to cope with everyday barriers.”
He hopes this piece of communication will help inspire disabled people while serving as a fundraising catalyst for the Disabled Sports Foundation.
Paul Brand executive produced for BijBrand. The DP was Rutger Storm.
Editor was Kim Hinrichs who has recently gone freelance. Colorist was Gyorgy Balatoni of AVP, Amsterdam. Overseeing post and visual effects was AVP’s Meip Wijn.
Stunt supervisor was Willem de Beukelaer. Principal actress was Heidi Allemans.
Music composer/audio post mixer was Geert van Gaalen, a partner in Studio de Keuken, Amsterdam
Supreme Court Seems Likely To Uphold A Law That Could Force TikTok To Shut Down On Jan. 19
The Supreme Court on Friday seemed likely to uphold a law that would ban TikTok in the United States beginning Jan. 19 unless the popular social media program is sold by its China-based parent company.
Hearing arguments in a momentous clash of free speech and national security concerns, the justices seemed persuaded by arguments that the national security threat posed by the company's connections to China override concerns about restricting the speech either of TikTok or its 170 million users in the United States.
Early in arguments that lasted more than two and a half hours, Chief Justice John Roberts identified his main concern: TikTok's ownership by China-based ByteDance and the parent company's requirement to cooperate with the Chinese government's intelligence operations.
If left in place, the law passed by bipartisan majorities in Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in April will require TikTok to "go dark" on Jan. 19, lawyer Noel Francisco told the justices on behalf of TikTok.
At the very least, Francisco urged, the justices should enter a temporary pause that would allow TikTok to keep operating. "We might be in a different world again" after President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20. Trump, who has 14.7 million followers on TikTok, also has called for the deadline to be pushed back to give him time to negotiate a "political resolution." Francisco served as Trump's solicitor general in his first presidential term.
But it was not clear whether any justices would choose such a course. And only Justice Neil Gorsuch sounded like he would side with TikTok to find that the ban violates the Constitution.
Gorsuch labeled arguments advanced by the Biden administration' in defense of the law a... Read More