{"id":2636,"date":"2018-04-20T15:06:41","date_gmt":"2018-04-20T15:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/?p=2636"},"modified":"2018-10-24T15:16:58","modified_gmt":"2018-10-24T15:16:58","slug":"webcast-archive-disability-and-advertising-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2018\/04\/webcast-archive-disability-and-advertising-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Webcast archive: Disability and advertising, Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1180\" height=\"664\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/K-1Jq2eiFAI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In this episode of\u00a0<em>Euthanasia &amp; Disability<\/em>, Amy Hasbrouck, Christian Debray, and Taylor Hyatt discuss:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Disability and advertising, Part II<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Please note that this text is only a script and that our webcast contains additional commentary.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DISABILITY AND ADVERTISING, PART II<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Welcome to the second half of our conversation on disability and advertising. Today, we\u2019ll be exploring the differences between ads directed at people with and without disabilities, awareness campaigns, and how advertising can be used to normalize disability.<\/li>\n<li>Design and marketing are different depending on whether they\u2019re directed toward disabled people or toward non-disabled people who provide care.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take adaptive clothing as an illustration.\u00a0 Clothes designed for \u201cSelf-dressing\u201d may not have the same features as those designed for \u201caided dressing.\u201d\u00a0 For example, shirts that close in the back might be easy for a carer to put on a disabled person, but the back closure might make it more difficult for the disabled person to put on themselves. \u00a0Another case in point are one-piece Jumpsuits that \u201chave back zipper access to prevent the wearer from disrobing inappropriately.\u201d\u00a0 And since much of the adaptive clothing is designed for elders, it is may strike younger consumers as (to quote a friend) \u201cFUGLY!\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Advertising directed at disabled people tends to stress independence, practicality (pants that don\u2019t slide down when you transfer), comfort (pressure wound prevention) and style.\u00a0 The ads aimed at care-givers, emphasize convenience and durability.<\/li>\n<li>Two companies demonstrate radically different approaches to designing and marketing accessible fashion. In\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Z7HHgPb_-is\">this Tommy Hilfiger clip<\/a>, an adolescent boy in a wheelchair is getting ready for a family photo shoot. The camera zooms in on his mom, who pushes his chair and attaches the Velcro on the shirt sleeves of three different outfits. Everything is done to and for the boy; the ad is directed at caregivers like the mom, even though she is not the one who will wear the clothes they\u2019re selling.<\/li>\n<li>In contrast, photo shoots for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/izadaptive\/\">the now-shuttered IZ Collection<\/a>\u00a0created by celebrity designer Izzy Camilieri show wheelchair users in classy, modern outfits. They\u2019re found in a variety of settings, gardens, offices, and shopping districts, with no caregiver in sight. Everything that makes the clothing \u201caccessible,\u201d from alternatives for buttons to the cut of a pair of jeans, is invisible to the average viewer. The focus is on making wheelchair users look fashionable, more than improving the lives of people who assist them.<\/li>\n<li>Over the last few weeks, we\u2019ve compared the way disabled people are portrayed by charities run by non-disabled people, and organizations by and for people with disabilities. Awareness and fundraising campaigns designed by and for nondisabled people often emphasize the difficulties of living with a particular condition, for the person themselves and those around them. Viewers are meant to pity the parents of disabled children, who are \u201crobbed\u201d of their dreams of raising a \u201cnormal\u201d child. Autism is a common example. Last year, Caudwell Children, a charity in the UK, created a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/acatinadogsworld.wordpress.com\/2016\/11\/12\/how-lockedinforautism-is-hurting-actuallyautistic-people\/amp\/\">Locked in for Autism<\/a>\u201d fundraiser. Participants would raise money by spending 50 hours \u201clocked in\u201d a giant glass box displayed in a grocery store. The box is meant to represent the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thirdsectorexcellenceawards.com\/finalists\/locked-in-for-autism\/\">isolation, communication issues, and \u201cstares\u201d<\/a>\u00a0autistic people must face. This creates an incorrect idea of the experience of autism that incites fear in the viewer and increases the distance between disabled and non-disabled people.\u00a0 In locating the problem with the autistic and fostering stereotypes, it re-enforces, rather than breaking down communication barriers between autistics and neurotypical people.<\/li>\n<li>Public safety campaigns also send the wrong message about disability when they use\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=eok-Ac-213Q\">\u201cbecoming disabled\u201d<\/a>\u00a0as a possible consequence of drunk driving or negligence in the workplace. Besides presenting disability as something to be feared, these campaigns re-enforce the belief disability is a \u201cpunishment,\u201d and that we are personally responsible for our conditions. In 2000, Mothers Against Drunk Driving came out with\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.adweek.com\/brand-marketing\/wongdoody-copywriter-develops-madd-campaign-50706\/\">a poster featuring an accessible parking spot<\/a>\u00a0and the words \u201cEvery 48 seconds, a drunk driver makes another person eligible to park here.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Fifteen years later, Quebec\u2019s Occupational Health and Safety Commission made the same mistake with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bynxkRpHkeA\">a spot on<\/a>\u00a0injuries in the workplace. In 60 seconds, an amputee at a public pool has to explain to a child why his arm is missing, a woman at a hair salon has to choose a style that will hide facial scarring, and a wheelchair-using dad is unable to hug his frightened daughter. (The people are portrayed as being ashamed of their conditions.\u00a0 The last scenario is an inaccurate portrayal of disability in family life; of course, the daughter is used to climbing up on her papa\u2019s lap and finding comfort there, regardless of where his arms are.)<\/li>\n<li>Again, the ad campaign locates the problem with the disability, rather than public attitudes toward disability. \u00a0Perhaps more importantly, it sends an inaccurate message about the amount of control that front-line workers have over safety in the work place.\u00a0 In reality, it is the responsibility of management to educate workers on safety procedures, provide safety gear, and enforce compliance with safety measures.\u00a0 Yet the ad lays the responsibility on the employee to \u201cspeak up\u201d about unsafe conditions, or else&#8230;<\/li>\n<li>Efforts to make disability seem more normal through marketing products to disabled people have had mixed results. One early example is the ad for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bQlpDiXPZHQ\">LifeCall alert system<\/a>\u00a0that was popular in the 1980s and \u201890s for all the wrong reasons. Unfortunately, one actor\u2019s line \u2013 \u201cI\u2019ve fallen and I can\u2019t get up!\u201d \u2013 became a joke, a cultural meme, and the basis of several rap songs because of the actor\u2019s exaggerated delivery.<\/li>\n<li>On the other hand, in 2010, Kimberly-Clark Company launched an award-winning series of humourous ads for its Poise incontinence pads featuring\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mail.google.com\/mail\/u\/0\/#inbox\/162af7104e267258?projector=1\">Whoopi Goldberg<\/a>.\u00a0 Recent ads for incontinence products continue to attempt to remove the stigma associated with bladder leakage. \u00a0A\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cx6NUwKV_Jg\">Depends \u201cunder-wareness\u201d commercial<\/a>\u00a0shows \u201ccool\u201d younger people modeling their briefs.<\/li>\n<li>Might these campaigns have helped Annette Blackman, a 34-year-old woman who died in 1997 at the hands of Jack Kevorkian because multiple sclerosis had rendered her incontinent?\u00a0 Do they really change the popular view of people who need these products, or do they re-enforce the status quo of a society that values youth, beauty and physical fitness? How many people would consider these normal parts of aging to be acquired disabilities?<\/li>\n<li>Many groups have used social media to work toward making disability more \u201cnormal.\u201d Crohn\u2019s and Colitis UK started the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/getyourbellyout\/\">\u201cGet Your Belly Out\u201d social media campaign<\/a>\u00a0to show people who have colostomies that they\u2019re not alone, and promote acceptance of their bodies. Also\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=d4VOwrlabDA&amp;t=22s\">this amateur video<\/a>\u00a0done by a couple of teenagers for Feeding Tube Awareness Week (2012) is definitely by and for disabled people.\u00a0 It\u2019s another example of the importance of peer support for people with disabilities.<\/li>\n<li>Apple\u2019s commercials are hit-or-miss. One clip from 2016 was produced by Sady Paulsen, a woman with cerebral palsy.\u00a0 It shows\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XB4cjbYywqg\">people with a variety of disabilities<\/a>\u00a0using their iphones and computers to program hearing aids, use text-to-speech, track workouts, and edit the commercial you\u2019re watching. We\u2019re glad to see a \u201ctrendy\u201d company look beyond wheelchair users as the classic depiction of disability. On the other hand, a second ad from the same year talks about\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=UTx12y42Xv4\">a young autistic man who uses an iPad<\/a>\u00a0as a communication device.\u00a0 The spot is narrated by his mother and a therapist, and Dillan is shown playing with toys, jogging, and playing basketball.\u00a0 His main contribution to the story is to describe his life as \u201clonely\u201d and autism like \u201cbeing in hell.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>When disabled activists in Boston organized a disability pride event in 1990, the first item on our platform statement was: \u201cDisability is a natural part of the human experience.\u201d\u00a0 The event, which took place two months after the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, was meant in part to announce the next stage of the disability rights movement.\u00a0 We hoped to follow in the footsteps of the black power and gay pride movements, to build a common belief that disability could be both normal and a source of pride.\u00a0 Since then, pride events have occurred in many cities, but the movement has not gained much strength.\u00a0 Hanging on to the idea that disability is \u201cnormal\u201d is hard, especially in the face of the growing popularity of assisted suicide and euthanasia. \u00a0And with less than 1% of advertising featuring disabled people, it\u2019s understandable that people still don\u2019t see disability as \u201cnormal.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>The best advertising campaigns show that it is possible to do it right, but that people with disabilities won\u2019t be portrayed accurately unless we can tell our own stories, instead of having people view our lives through the lenses of fear and pity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n   ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-summary\">\n<div class=\"entry-summary\">\nThis week, we look at disability in advertising, including campaigns by Tommy Hilfiger, Apple, and the infamous LifeCall commercial.\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2018\/04\/webcast-archive-disability-and-advertising-part-ii\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Webcast archive: Disability and advertising, Part II&rdquo;<\/span>&hellip;<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/2018\/04\/webcast-archive-disability-and-advertising-part-ii\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &ldquo;Webcast archive: Disability and advertising, Part II&rdquo;<\/span>&hellip;<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"tags":[224,221,121,222,223,118],"class_list":["post-2636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-webcast-archive","tag-advertising","tag-apple","tag-euthanasia-disability","tag-lifecall","tag-tommy-hilfiger","tag-webcast","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2636"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3429,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2636\/revisions\/3429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}