Advertising Industry Must Overcome Its Anxiety Around Disability Representation

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Jul 26, 2021,07:42am EDT|

Advertising Industry Must Overcome Its Anxiety Around Disability Representation

Gus Alexiou
Contributor
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
I write about accessibility, inclusion and social justice.

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Voya Financial ad “Growing Up” featuring special needs families

Voya Financial

The advertising industry currently finds itself beset by challenges on all sides as it grapples with the immediate economic repercussions of Covid-19 and several longer-term changes in viewing habits.

These include customers spending more time on streaming services like Netflix, YOUTUBE and social media sites and watching more personalized pre-recorded content, where technologies like TiVo make skipping the ad break a familiar viewing habit.

Amid this upheaval, research undertaken last year by Lloyds Bank found only 0.06% of adverts in the U.K. featured individuals with disabilities despite accounting for 20% of the nation’s population.

Unfortunately, the risk-benefit calculations governing the considerations of those whose job it is to sign off on campaigns appear to be naturally stacked against casting more people with disabilities.

Advertising is, after all, all about selling products. Chasing the profit motive means the bar is set high in terms of gaining the trust of viewers. [...]