Toyota's 'See Like Menna' Instagram Lets Viwers See The Slopes Through The Eyes Of A Paralympic Skier

An imaginative ‘See Like Menna’ strand of Toyota’s global Olympic/Paralympic ‘Start Your Impossible’ initiative sees the automotive giant launch an Instagram account showing what life is like for visually impaired Paralympic Skier Menna Fitzpatrick.

This new social campaign aims to offer a better understanding of just what it’s like (and how daunting it is) to ski down the steepest slopes at over 100 km/hr with only 3% vision.

The Toyota Instagram account, @SeeLikeMenna, uses a visual impairment filter video to take viewers on the slopes through the eyes of the 18-year-old visually-impaired British Para-Alpine World Cup athlete while she trains for her first Paralympic Games.

https://www.instagram.com/seelikemenna/

The filter was created in conjunction with Fitzpatrick and her sighted guide Jennifer Kehoe and with expert input from the Royal National Institute for the Blind in London (who’s team of ophthalmic consultants worked to convey the skier’s perception of the world as accurately as possible).

This group worked with marketers from agencies Saatchi & Saatchi, Dentsu and Archer’s Mark on the project.

The Instagram account features a set of images, but it is the thrilling, heart-stopping video clips that stunningly drive home the experience and the scale of Fitzpatrick’s challenge.

In one post, the viewer can even hear Fitzpatrick’s sight guide Jennifer Kehoe shouting out instructions and helping Fitzpatrick along the way.

The Toyota team created a 360, immersive video experience that also runs across Facebook and YouTube and a 60-second film that introduces viewers to Fitzpatrick without the 3% vision filter.

The 360 video also includes other Paralympic athletes – Marek Kubacka from Slovenia and Maciej Krezel from Poland – to help viewers understand the medical-based classifications for blind sport and the different degrees of visual impairment: B1 (no light perception) B2 (approximately 3% vision) and B3 (4-10% vision).

Comment:

You may have imagined what it feels like to be an Olympic star, but this initiative challenges us to think hard about skiing steep mountain sharp curves at high speeds of over 60mph with just 3% of our vision.

This striking experience offers the viewer a unique window into the life of a Paralympic athlete and is certain to make anyone watching pause for thought.

Toyota is leveraging its eight-year worldwide partnership with The International Olympic and Paralympic Committees to introduce its global, integrated and multi-phase ‘Start Your Impossible’ programme which is spearheading its dhift from a car company to a mobility provider (see case study).

Toyota’s other activation around the Winter Paralympics to date has included powerful and emotive films featuring Canadian para skier Lauren Woolstencroft,

and Italian wheelchair fencer Beatrice ‘Bebe’ Vio.

Links:

Toyota

https://www.instagram.com/seelikemenna/

http://www.toyota-global.com

https://www.facebook.com/ToyotaSpecialShowroom/

http://www.youtube.com/user/TOYOTAglobal

https://www.mobilityforall.com/

https://www.toyota.com/

https://www.youtube.com/user/ToyotaUSA

https://twitter.com/Toyota

https://www.instagram.com/toyotausa/

Saatchi & Saatchi