Esther Verger’s new face in Calvé’s campaign: ‘We want to make the extraordinary ordinary’
Esther Vergeer plays a leading role in Calvé’s new “Who Didn’t Grow Up With It” campaign. This makes the young version of Esther the sixth athlete to appear in the series. Vergeer, a 44-time Grand Slam winner and Paralympics president, wants to give a stage to children with disabilities through her collaboration with the peanut butter brand. They still lack overly motivational models. “Success stories and visibility can ensure that all children dare to dream big,” Verger says.
Recent research confirms that success stories can do a lot to make children feel visible and stimulated: more than half (53%) of people with disabilities indicate that they see very few people with disabilities on television and the media, and 56% report that it affects them. This is an under-representation of sports models on their own sports activities. Vergeer, who created his own foundation to make sports accessible to people with physical disabilities, has partnered with Calvé to feature athletes with disabilities more often and give them more media attention. The campaign, which can now be watched on TV, is thus the beginning of a multi-year collaboration.
Thijs Sleddering, Calvé’s Director of Food Marketing: “About four years ago, we realized that the interest in top athletes is not always evenly distributed: some athletes are more in the spotlight than others. We chose her then with Lieke Martens, to do nothing else. The usual suspect To focus on him, but he’s a champion athlete whose perseverance, in our opinion, wasn’t given enough podiums. Choosing Esther Vergeer, we continue this line. Her unprecedented athletic achievements make her a role model that all children can see, and nothing should stand in the way of their grandest dreams.”
Although Calvé sticks to the concept of its trusted campaign, the brand is now more aware of its social responsibility. Sledring: “We have no illusion that we will normalize sports for people with disabilities ourselves. But as a brand of peanut butter on the dining table of millions of families, we can contribute to it. That’s why Esther responded enthusiastically when we approached her: ‘I want to make the extraordinary ordinary,'” “And Calve could help with that,” she said.
