The archive · Content & Film · Marketing decision · 2021
On films a blind sprinter's secret reunion disguised as a marathon trial run
Swiss brand On took David Brown and guide Jerome Avery to New York on a fake trial run; his mum, first coach and heroes were secretly waiting.
On
What it had to solve
Swiss sports brand On wanted a film about David Brown, the world's fastest blind man, and his running guide Jerome Avery, partners bound by a tether for seven years. A conventional brand spot would flatten the trust the pair's relationship is built on, so the filmmakers needed a way to let the real connection carry the story.
How it works
Untethered is a 23-minute film produced by Swiss sports brand On about David Brown, the world's fastest blind man, and his running guide, Jerome Avery. Bound by a tether, the pair had formed a unique partnership lasting seven years, and that relationship was what On wanted to build a film around.
The filmmakers brought the pair to New York before Tokyo 2020 under the guise of a trial run for a marathon, taking them through the boroughs and loosely mirroring the route. David had no idea he would be reconnecting with the people who inspired his life: his mum, his first track coach and his pop-culture heroes.
Because the trip was engineered but the meetings were not scripted, the emotion belonged to the runners rather than the ad. Untethered told a story of trust, struggle and friendship, and was credited in the D&AD awards archive as film work.
Why it lands
- The fake trial run kept the reunion honest: Brown believed the assignment was the run, so his reactions to his mother, his coach and his heroes were real.
- The film let On speak through an actual seven-year partnership instead of inventing a metaphor for trust.
- Setting the story before Tokyo 2020 tied the brand to a real athletic moment instead of a manufactured one.
- Committing to 23 minutes gave the relationship room to breathe, far from the compressed logic of a 30-second spot.
What it did
The film made On's idea of partnership something the audience watches happen rather than hears claimed: the tether between sprinter and guide becomes a story of trust, struggle and friendship, with reunions that are genuine because Brown did not know they were coming. Untethered was credited in the D&AD awards archive.
What you can take
If the truth is the point of the film, protect it with the production design: keep the subject in the dark so the moment on camera is the real moment.
Since then
Untethered was credited in the D&AD awards archive of 2022, where its page remains a reference for brand documentaries. Its structure — hiding a genuinely emotional reunion inside a plausible assignment — became the reason the film read as testimony rather than performance.
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