Strava Launches #athletesunfiltered

Strava, a social network for athletes, has launched a new campaign, ‘Athletes Unfiltered’, which calls for athletes to be themselves and celebrate the inclusivity of sport.

The campaign kicks off with a short film created by BAFTA-nominated production company, Archer’s Mark, featuring everyday members of the Strava community sharing the ups and downs of their experience with sport.

Strava is asking its athletes to post anti-filter photos, showing off awkward tan lines, flushed post-workout selfies, filthy hands, or just getting through a big day out. Strava is encouraging its community to tag posts with #AthletesUnfiltered.

Gareth Nettleton, VP of marketing at Strava, said of the campaign: “There are two key insights that drove the work, both inspired by what’s wrong with the world lately. Firstly, we live in a terribly divisive time, and sport connects people across lines you might not expect. It is a positive, unifying force, and we want to shine a light on its power to bring people together.

“Secondly, Strava is a real, raw, very unfiltered social network. We believe that people all over the world are exhausted by the pressure to always present a perfect, curated self on other social networks. So we wanted to make it very clear that Strava is a place to put it all out there and be yourself. Unity and acceptance – that’s what this campaign is about.”

Tashia Palley, a London-based cyclist and Strava member who features in the film, said: “Strava is more real, rawer, in a way. So when you’ve done some exercise, people are just posting, no make-up, sweaty selfies, of what you’ve done. And I think you feel such a buzz when you’re doing your exercise; who cares if you’ve got no makeup or look a mess?”

The hero film will be distributed digitally and be followed by 12 further shorts, highlighting different aspects of the community.