For its mobile network client iD, CHI&Partners in the U.K. has launched “Blind Fighter,” the fourth in “Do Your Own Thing,” a series of campaigns featuring extraordinary individuals who have turned to inspirational methods to regain control over their own lives.
Launching on Facebook, ‘Blind Fighter’ is a three-part documentary examining the compelling story of Lee Hoy, a 28-year-old man in South Shields who has used mixed martial arts training to turn around his battle with blindness.
Hoy was born with congenital toxoplasmosis gondii, a parasite which damaged his retinas in the womb, meaning he was blind from birth. Working with CHI&Partners and iD for the three-part documentary series, Hoy explains how mixed martial arts has helped him rethink his relationship with fear, taking on his own inner demons and using self-defense as a way of building his self-confidence and self-belief.
Created by Carl Storey at CHI&Partners, “Blind Fighter” was directed by Ben Hanson and Simon Frost through CHI&Partners’ in-house production company Carbon.
In Episode 2 titled “Hard Knocks,” the “guessing game” of fighting blind is featured–with Hoy explaining how “he can’t see the punches” coming–but, once he grabs his component in the ring, “I forget I’m actually blind. Even if it’s just for five minutes, it just takes that feeling away, and you feel free.”
Each of the mini-documentaries in the series was created and produced specifically for Facebook native video, using high-impact visuals to grab people’s attention as they scrolled through their newsfeeds, encouraging them to click and find out more. The campaign is supported on social media by content agency AllTogetherNow, CHI&Partners’ sister agency within The&Partnership.
