At Proper Active we want to change the way people think and feel about being active. We believe anyone and everyone should feel at home in a sporting context, regardless of background or ability. One thing which we know is particularly important to achieving this is the way that sport and physical activity are presented, whether that's in the media, in our communities or by our friends, family and colleagues.

If you've ever checked out our website or read some of our previous blogs, you'll know that one of our three core aims is to do work that helps to Set the Right Context for physical activity. This includes better visibility of all the different types of people who absolutely are, or could be, getting active. It also includes the way we speak about people from different backgrounds and with different abilities when they take part.

Are you training for marathon?

As a society, we have an unfortunate habit of placing the emphasis on excellence and we often feel the need to caveat success. For example, have you ever told a colleague that you went jogging? If you have, I bet they asked you how far or how fast, or perhaps they asked if you're in training for a race. Why do we not think to ask first: where did you go, who did you see or did you have fun? And when we speak about our own active pursuits, if like us you are not an elite athlete, do you find yourself saying: I'm not very fast or I'm not very good?

There is a lot to do to shift these common biases and this is one of the reasons why we absolutely love recent media campaigns, like This Girl Can and We are Undefeatable, which have looked at movement and activity through a completely different lens. These campaigns have set a new bar for advertising physical activity, using real people with real lives and showing us that it doesn't matter what you look like or where you come from.

In spite of the great strides made, one thing we still feel has been missing (and we would absolutely love to collaborate on should the opportunity arise) is a host of campaigns which celebrate, openly and with no sense of irony, being unashamedly dreadful at sport and physical activity. Let's face it, it's basic maths. A firm 50% of us are always going to be below average at active pursuits, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't enjoy the fun, the exhilaration, the highs and lows or that feeling when you do something for the very first time.

With that in mind, we were super excited when we heard that Nike had launched a brand new campaign on exactly this theme, entitled Play New. The first advert in the series came out last month and before we tell you our verdict you should take a look for yourself:

Let's start with the positives: reasons why we love this:

1. The idea of showcasing when things don't go to plan is fantastic to see and is completely in line with our values

2. Massive kudos to Nike for stepping out of the conventional sports brand comfort zone and representing what, in our opinion, is the most important part of their mission statement.
   (*If you have a body, you are an athlete)

3. Credit to Nike too that this isn't just jumping on the bandwagon. They've led by example time and again, particularly when it comes to equality. Like in this lovely advert for International Women's Day earlier this year and this one released in the midst of the Black Lives Matter protests last year.

4. The use of celebrity sport stars, like Dina Asher-Smith, is pretty cool - showing that just because you excel at one thing, doesn't mean you will be good at everything.

5. It starts conversations and puts new ideas in people's minds; and we really need people to be talking and thinking about this a lot more than we currently are.

So what's the catch, we hear you ask:

Fundamentally, for all its good intentions, there is something underlying here that doesn't quite sit right. A large proportion of the film is spent calling people out for not being very good and, whilst this is entertaining, and brave from those willing to feature, it seems to draw attention to the tired rhetoric that the main point of taking part is to be good. And if you're not good? Well then you should expect a little mocking as par for the course. But of course it's only harmless banter.

This might be fine if you're the type of person who is confident in a physical activity environment (say for example you're an elite athlete); but if you're nervously contemplating your first outing as a physical activity participant (as many of the people who would benefit most from more activity might be), there is every chance that fear of this kind of judgement stops you ever making it off your sofa.

Real progress in changing perceptions of what it means to be physically active, requires more than just giving people permission to 'suck'. Instead we need to celebrate it, promote it, be at ease with it; and in that way create a more fair and non-judgmental environment to just do it.

So whilst we're definitely not taking away from Nike and all of their blazing the trail, for us there is still some work to be done. We are optimistic that there's still lots more to come in this space though, both from Nike and from the rest of the sports industry.

In the meantime we couldn't resist including one of our absolute favourites - the original This Girl Can film. Maybe it's the fabulous music, or perhaps it's because it was the first of its kind, but it still gives us goose bumps every time we watch!

Have a view? Drop us a line we'd love to hear it. Or if you'd like to chat about doing physical activity campaigns differently, get in touch on info@properactive.co.uk