Turn on (in) advertising

Turn on (in) advertising

Disability cannot be thought of, spoken of or even acted upon only in the context of accessibility. Disability - not only in advertising titles, but in all media, public spaces, education, business, the arts and in every other facet of life - touches the entire IDEAS concept of inclusion, diversity, equality, accessibility and sustainability.

I - inclusion- social inclusion
D -  diversity-diversity
E - equity - equality
A - accessibility - accessibility
S - sustainability - sustainable development

Joshua Loebner is an advertising executive. That's how we usually introduce people to each other at parties, right? However, this is an oversimplification. Let us introduce Josh to you in more detail, because he is really worth getting to know.

He's the writer of Adweek and authors his own blog Advertising and Disability; he's the Director of Marketing Strategy, Communications and Inclusive Design at the agency Designsensory; he's the Global Director of Inclusive Design and heads the Inclusive Experience practice at Wunderman Thompson. That's for starters.

In addition to being a university lecturer, he also enjoys speaking at the White House and AAF - the American Advertising Federation, the advertising industry's most important think tank on diversity and inclusion.

He is partially blind and visually impaired, which he says, gives him a unique perspective and he always clearly sees the best in everyone. A very inspiring approach, right?

Joshua, in an interview with art and media portal Commarts, when asked where he thinks the fault lies in the portrayal of disability by advertisers, said:

"Unless it is a key part of the brand or campaign concept, skin colour, ethnicity, gender, sexual preference or disability,

typically do not (and should not) play a distinctive role.

My recommendation is to consider the real-world situation, letting go of the focus on disability itself,

in order to direct the message and creativity toward the person's typical interaction with the brand."

Good advice, and Josh has a lot more of it. Advertisers should think of accessibility as a gateway to creativity. The next inclusive revolution in advertising: raising the level of disability. Volkswagen needs to move from primetime to more sustainable goals. In ads for Covid-19, the lack of disability inclusion is glaring. Agencies need to implement accessibility measures when designing websites. Agencies need to better link disability to diversity and inclusion efforts. John Fetterman's drama shows the medias ignorance about disability. These are some of the titles of Loebner's articles in Adweek - all worth reading and implementing.

What is not seen in advertising, what the heart does not pity.

Equally good advice comes from Gusa Alexiou, a journalist and Forbes contributor who writes about accessibility, inclusion and social justice, and has a diagnosis of SM:

"The advertising industry must overcome its anxiety about the representation of people with disabilities."

Following his line of thought: the risk-benefit calculations governing the deliberations of those tasked with signing on to campaigns seem naturally opposed to casting more people with disabilities. After all, advertising is about selling products. The pursuit of profit sets the bar high when it comes to gaining viewers' trust. Even a slight misrepresentation of disability can quickly lead the general public to view it as cynical exploitation.

Yes, this is a challenge. Unlike the film industry (which has its own shortcomings when it comes to depicting disability), the short and strong nature of advertising leaves little room for developing character depth or balancing problematic representations. Companies and agencies simply don't want to take responsibility. It's as if the creative industry is becoming uncreative...out of fear.

And yet, there's already a lot of good work behind us. Efforts to portray people with disabilities more positively in advertising date back to the 1980s, when groundbreaking campaigns such as Levi's 501 starred a wheelchair user, or McDonald's - where one deaf friend "quietly" convinces his other deaf friend to go eat a burger on the beach - were widely recognized.

In 2019, both Microsoft and Home Depot were recognized for their Superbowl campaigns We All Win and This Is What Our Activists Do. The former showed young gamers with disabilities using an adaptive Xbox controller, while the latter, featuring disabled veterans and volunteers, evoked a strong sense of community.

As you can see, the brave world belongs to advertising.

Brands and advertising agencies worried about making a terrible mistake should take a look at the campaign by Voya Financial, which offers individualized retirement planning for families with special needs.

Voya wanted to take the representation of people with disabilities to a whole new level by casting a young man with Down syndrome alongside his mother in an ad. The Growing Up campaign showed one such family going through various stages in their son's life, from his sports day at school, to graduation, to his first day at work.

According to Paul Gennaro, Voyas Vice President and Director of Brand and Communications, the campaign has been a huge success since its launch.

"People have reacted very favourably to the Growing Up video. Its effectiveness has surpassed other popular ads we've done,

especially in areas such as trust, interest in doing business and likability."

However, he cautioned at the same time that representing disability is not something that brands can simply immerse themselves in, as such an approach will seem inconsistent to the public and inconsistent with brand values.

Certainly for the uninitiated brands, the pitfalls of misrepresenting disability are too numerous to list in one breath. Their spectrum includes the production of a tiresome tear squeezer, designed to stir the heartstrings and evoke pity on the one hand, and, as we almost whine about during the Paralympic Games, for example, the stereotypical portrayal of selected disabled people as unearthly or superhuman.

However... fortune favours the brave. Instead of panicking, confident and mature organizations should appreciate that delving into the relatively untapped resource of persuasive disability representations is an excellent opportunity for any brand to realize its dreams and ultimately stand out from the crowd.

So what can we wish for ourselves, ad agencies and brands, in a new better world that includes IDEAS? Courage!

To quote Paul Gennaro once again:

"Until we get to the point where it is typical for people with disabilities to appear in ads, the situation is somewhat uncomfortable.

Therefore, brands need to have some freedom to make mistakes.

Clients and agencies should understand that they may find themselves in a difficult situation where they are at risk of criticism,

but there is nothing wrong with that."

After all, even when something goes wrong in the process despite your efforts, you should say:

"We take people into account. This is what we do. If you don't like it, tell us how you'd like to see it, and we'll remember for next time."