Disabled people feel stigmatised by the advertising industry’s efforts to promote diversity.
That’s the conclusion of a new book from a researcher at Liverpool Hope University, which highlights how the tokenistic approach of brands’ pro-diversity campaigns does not reflect the reality of most disabled people’s lives.
Published by Routledge, Advertising Disability is the latest publication from Senior Lecturer in Disability Studies, Dr Ella Houston. It considers how advertising shapes attitudes towards disability, providing a much-needed examination of how disability and mental health are depicted.
Charting the evolution of disability representation in advertising, the book challenges the industry’s ruthless, money-grabbing reputation, arguing that advertisers are trying to do better when representing disabled people.
Advertising Disability explains how, after decades of reinforcing stigmatising attitudes towards disability, progress has been made in recent years.
Advertisers have increasingly invested in pro-diversity campaigns that aim to reflect a more inclusive society, with some of the biggest brands in the world including disabled models and athletes in campaigns that have allowed them to reach wider consumer markets.
However, Dr Houston’s research reveals most campaigns fail to consider diversity beyond representation.
Although there are growing numbers of models with physical and sensory impairments in advertisements, portrayals of people with cognitive impairments, dwarfism, and chronic health conditions are few and far between.
To make matters worse, the vast majority of pro-diversity advertisements are inaccessible to disabled audiences, with the brands they promote failing to make any deeper commitments to advocating for disabled people’s rights.
Dr Houston’s research includes a series of recommendations to ensure the advertising industry continues to make progress in its representation of disabled people. This includes, hiring more disabled people, consulting disability activists on campaigns and producing more engaging content for all audiences that make the most of accessibility tools.
Dr Houston said: “The advertising industry has huge potential for influencing public attitudes towards disability, as billions of people are exposed to advertisements multiple times each day.
“Until the 1980s, disabled people were only portrayed in charity advertisements, undermining disability activists’ demands for rights, not pity. However, especially during high-profile events such as the Paralympic Games, some of the best-known brands have started to feature disabled people in their advertising campaigns.
“While the increased visibility of disabled people across advertising is a step in the right direction, the vast majority of disabled people believe that brands and advertisers are failing to move beyond superficial and, in some cases, insulting approaches to promoting inclusion.
“Until the advertising industry commits to hiring more disabled people, consults disability activists, ensures that advertisements include accessibility features, and avoids only featuring disabled people in one-off campaigns, its approach to inclusion will continue to be tokenistic rather than transformative.”