Ad of the Day | This Girl Can returns with new inspirational Fit Got Real message

Oct. 26, 2018

Sport England has today launched the latest phase of its This Girl Can campaign, Fit Got Real, which aims to help more women have the confidence to be more active for their physical health and mental wellbeing.

The new film, created by FCB Inferno, is taking a fresh approach to This Girl Can with its Fit Got Real concept that shows real women of different ages and ethnicities doing exercise their own way, no matter how unconventional. Whether women are active by running around the park pushing their child in a pram, hula hooping at home, jumping into the sea, trampolining with friends or teaching themselves how to swim using YouTube, the message from This Girl Can is that all exercise counts.

Both a 30 and 60 second version of the film will run across digital and social media, supported by campaign partners and national PR. This Girl Can’s social channels will showcase new women talking about how they fit exercise into their lives, why they like it and the negative perceptions and barriers they overcame to be more active; and the website is also being updated to make looking for an activity more intuitive and reflective of women’s real lives.

Jennie Price, Chief Executive of Sport England comments:

“There are some stark inequalities when it comes to different levels of exercise amongst women in England. Many of the pressures of modern life do not make it easy for women to have the confidence and motivation to be active. The health and wellbeing benefits of being active should be available to all women, and that is why we have a new message - Fit Got Real – to celebrate the creative and often unconventional ways many women are fitting exercise into their busy lives.”

 

Sharon Jiggins, Executive Vice President at FCB Inferno comments:

“Conventional exercise and the conventions around it, such as having the ‘right’ kit and clothing, can be a big barrier for a lot of women and girls. So too is the lack of time, money and energy. We wanted to smash all these conventions with this next phase of This Girl Can and show the honest and uplifting truths about how exercise can be possible for every woman - even those juggling busy, hectic lives. Director Georgi Banks-Davies was able to brilliantly capture these insights of women’s real lives on camera and help motivate others. We want our audience feeling inspired and believing that no woman should ever be made to feel judged over whatever way they choose to get active. That’s why Barbra Streisand’s ‘Don’t Rain On My Parade’ is the perfect anthem for this phase of This Girl Can.”

 

Georgi Banks-Davies, director of the new This Girl Can film comments:

“The goal was to show the realities and challenges of everyday exercise for real women. My mates know that I box, because it’s ‘cool’, but they have no idea that when I’m away travelling, I do ‘Davina’s 15 min workout’ in hotel rooms in my knickers, getting carpet burns on my elbows from planking. That’s my reality. I want the audience to be inspired to celebrate their own reality, and to feel proud of that.”

 

Having already inspired almost 3 million women to be more active since launching in 2015, This Girl Can’s new campaign is designed to appeal to an even wider range of women by showing images and telling stories of the realities of getting active for many women.

Caroline, 36, who stars in the new film, comments:

“As a full time carer I rarely have time to myself and am often under a lot of pressure both emotionally and physically. At the end of the day, I always felt I was either too tired, didn’t have enough time or wasn’t motivated enough to exercise. But, one day I realised how important it was (for my mental and physical health) to spend some time on myself and, with the help of my friends and support groups in the community, I could see a way out! Rather than spending half an hour watching TV, I now get out to a dance class or over to the trampoline classes at the local community centre. With added daily pressures of work and family commitments, I completely understand how easy it is to get into a routine of not doing much exercise, but I feel so much happier and healthier from being more active. Even it’s a quick run up and down the garden it’s better than nothing!”