This Girl Can: the 2015 television launch

Read the campaign story

This Girl Can addressed the feeling of being judged while exercising. Sport England’s campaign showed women taking part in activity with visible effort rather than presenting polished athletic perfection. The January 2015 television launch featured different bodies and forms of movement, with FCB Inferno creating the campaign and Kim Gehrig directing through Somesuch. Contemporary reporting distinguishes that major television launch from preparatory partnerships and activity that had begun the previous autumn.

The film sat within a wider programme using cinema, outdoor, digital and social channels. Thinkbox’s account describes how viewers could learn about the women featured and share their own experiences. The campaign’s central invitation was participation on one’s own terms. It did not require the audience to identify as elite athletes before seeing themselves as entitled to move.

Editorial reading: The work changes the imagined spectator. Exercise can feel difficult not only because of the activity but because someone expects scrutiny of their appearance or ability. By showing effort as ordinary and acceptable, the campaign challenges the social standard against which a participant might judge herself. The creative choice is therefore not merely diverse casting; it is a different interpretation of what sweat, strain and imperfection mean.

That interpretation must be supported beyond the film. Someone encouraged to try an activity still needs an accessible, affordable and welcoming opportunity. Communications can reduce one barrier while leaving others untouched. A small organisation should pair inclusive imagery with practical information about beginner sessions, adaptations, costs and what a first visit actually involves. Otherwise the invitation may be emotionally generous but operationally incomplete.

The approach also requires listening rather than assuming that all women face the same obstacle. Fear of judgement can coexist with time pressure, disability, safety concerns or caring responsibilities. A useful local adaptation would ask its intended participants what makes taking part difficult and allow that evidence to shape both the message and the service. The campaign should not turn confidence into another requirement people must meet.

The opened sources verify the launch and media approach. Reported participation findings in retrospective materials are not treated here as a controlled causal estimate. This case covers the original 2015 television-led edition, not later relaunches. The transferable lesson is to identify the social permission a person may be missing, represent it credibly and connect the invitation to a realistic next step that the organisation is prepared to deliver.

Identify the perceived judgement

Ask the audience what they fear others will think before choosing the message.

Show effort without apology

Represent ordinary participation rather than only polished achievement.

Make the next step welcoming

Supply clear access, cost and beginner information alongside the invitation.

A small test for another brief

Pair an inclusive invitation with one genuinely accessible beginner activity.

Track enquiries, first attendance and whether participants felt welcomed.

Stop if the advertised welcome is not reflected in the actual session.

• Ask intended participants about barriers.
• Show realistic participation with consent.
• Publish exact access, cost and adaptation details.