Virgin Active Dares You to Move in New Summer Campaign
Canvas Agency and Pretty Neat launch Virgin Active South Africa’s new summer campaign unlike any other. We Are The Ones Who Dare, directed by Alex Fynn, focuses on getting yourself to the gym and pushing yourself past your own mental limit rather than achieving the perfect 'summer body'.
The campaign aims to create an inspiring new narrative about effort and determination, not just aesthetics. Alex’s goal was to prove that people who fall and get up are stronger than those who don’t try at all. The characters step out of their comfort zones and conquer the inevitable doubt when they push themselves further than they have before.
The striking visuals by Adam Bentel and performances of these characters’ attempts and failures set against the motivational voice-over and inspiring music composed by Sne Dladla, result in a film that will inspire people to dare. Dare to move, dare to be bold, to be brave, and dare not let anything stop them from being active this summer.
This ad is an authentic, visual spectacle of people pushing themselves past their own limits and so casting was of utmost importance. Typically, traditional sports campaigns feature fit-looking professionals with advanced skills and capabilities. We wanted to try to capture the universal love for being active with all its failures and triumphs. Alex wanted to shift the focus and showcase real people. By casting real netball players and skateboarders, the idea is to keep it real and portray real people in real situations. This even went so far as to cast a little girl who would really learn to ride her bike while on set with us. Imagine a seven-year-old being cheered on by the art department, grips, and focus pullers. With her dad’s and Alex’s guidance, Zara took her leap of faith and rode her bike for the first time without training wheels. It took a few tries and takes but she was determined to try, fail and later succeed, all while the camera was rolling!
The campaign was shot across Cape Town - from Noordhoek beach to Clifton Stairs, to a private home with a half-pipe, showcasing the diverse locations this beautiful city has to offer.
The highlight of the campaign had to be the Clifton Stairs shot. When the script says - "We see a woman at the bottom of Clifton stairs ready to take on the daunting task of summiting the steep flight", the director says - "Let's use a cable cam!" The shot was really fun to do for a commercial. Usually, this type of rigs is reserved for those long establishing shots you see in feature films. Adam Liebenberg and his team from All Rigging, along with the incredible grip department, successfully managed to make the camera fly!
This was a really fun, challenging project with a great crew and collaborative client. The project is currently flighting on local sports channels, lifestyle channels as well as online social media platforms.
