The broadcasts will feature as part of euronews' One Minute of Responsibility campaign, in association with ACT Responsible – a not-for-profit organisation working to highlight the role advertisers can play in addressing key social issues.

The first PSA is called Encourage Omar (clip pictured above), and will air until September.

An emotive 90 second film, produced by international ad agency JWT, it illustrates the power of encouragement for people with intellectual disabilities.

It features Omar Haddad, a British Special Olympics athlete, performing a gymnastics routine at Wembley Arena, where the sport will take place at this summer's Olympics in London.

The second PSA, a digital animation titled See the Athlete First (clip pictured below), challenges viewers to reconsider first impressions by seeing athletes as simply athletes and not defining them by their disabilities.

Mario Ogunbowale, a 21-year-old Special Olympics basketball, track and bowling athlete from Wisconsin in the United States features in the film, created by international ad agency BBDO.


"The One Minute of Responsibility campaign gives Special Olympics the unique opportunity to educate the broader European community on the values of our movement," said Mary Davis, the President of the Special Olympics Europe Eurasia.

"We are extremely grateful for the support of ACT Responsible and euronews in helping us spread our message."

Euronews managing director of sales Olivier de Montchenu said: "We believe euronews has a mission to inform people about world affairs, without any bias, any filter.

"We believe the viewers should make their own opinion on world issues and that euronews has this capacity to make people feel more independent and more responsible; this is why we give the necessary airtime to support responsible advertising."

The Special Olympics PSAs were shown previously at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity last month.

The Special Olympics are for athletes with an intellectual disability and are fundamentally different from the Paralympics, which are for athletes with physical disabilities.

Click here to watch See the Athlete First and here for Encourage Omar.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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