How many times have you stopped yourself from doing something for fear of being judged? Maybe you didn’t take that speaking opportunity or turn up alone to that party or even read that particular book on the tube. This fear of judgement is what This Girl Can realised is holding back 75% of women from doing more sporting activities or exercise.

The latest iteration of the campaign, 'Me Again', is aiming to tackle this fear and to examine the societal pressures that prevent women from feeling like they can join in. Where once the focus was on the emotional and physical barriers to entry for women to exercise, the 2020 campaign wants to dismantle the social pressures that they face every day.

As with its previous campaigns, diverse casting is integral to the ad. But what differs this time is that we are shown the barriers these women are actually overcoming. From Hannah doing yoga to ease her period pains, her visible tampon string addressing yet another stigma; to Kirsti breastfeeding her baby before handing it to her partner so she can play netball. We also see daughter Patrice encouraging her mum Yvonne out of bed so they can exercise together to tackle the symptoms of menopause and polycystic ovary syndrome respectively.

Directed by Ali Kurr, the ad features British rapper Little Simz’s Offence track which reinforces the message that it is time women stopped having to feel judged or defined by society.

When This Girl Can first launched in 2015, it was a pivotal moment for sports marketing both to and for women. The ads were raw and real, capturing the reality of what sport means for women of all ages, abilities, shapes and sizes. With this latest campaign, This Girl Can demonstrates its commitment to both tackling and dismantling long-entrenched stigmas around female exercise. The campaign is about opening up the space for conversation, about all women being active and most importantly, about the joy of getting moving.