Why Are Disabled People Being Shortchanged in Advertisement Representation?

A recent survey of more than 6,500 UK adults — including more than 2,300 who identified as disabled — found that 32% had not seen any disability represented in the media and advertising content they had seen, watched, or read during the last six months.

Less than a quarter (23%) of those with a disability in the survey from the Business Disability Forum agreed that images of disabled people used in content they had seen, watched, or read reflected their own experience of disability.

The research further suggested that advertisers overly rely on images of wheelchair and mobility scooter users, when less than one in 10 disabled people actually use wheelchairs in real life and disability covers “a broad range of conditions, many of which are less-visible.”

In a column for Forbes, Gus Alexiou, who regularly writes on DEI issues and has multiple sclerosis, explained that advertisers often either show someone in a wheelchair or don’t feature a disabled person at all in fear of reprisal should the representation be out of touch. Alexiou wrote, “In advertising imagery, when disability is shown, it needs to be apparent without being so overstated that brands and creatives are left open to accusations of exploitation, insensitivity or boorish ignorance.”

In a recent blog entry, Carmen de Castro, marketing manager at Purple Goat Agency, which focuses on inclusivity, said many brands “still struggle to portray individuals with disabilities accurately and may unintentionally perpetuate stereotypes. Also, there is a need for more diverse representation within the disability community itself, as different disabilities and experiences are often overlooked or underrepresented.”

Nielsen research from 2021 found that just 1% of primetime ads included representation of disability-related themes, visuals, or topics, and only 3% of ad spend in primetime “went to ads featuring disabled people or that were inclusive of disability themes in the creative.” Nearly half of the total dollars spent on disability-inclusive ads are also found to be focused on pharmaceuticals, healthcare treatments, and related devices.

The lack of coverage comes despite the CDC estimating that 27% of U.S. adults have some form of disability. Of those with disabilities, the most common condition was cognition, 12.8%; followed by mobility, 12.1%; independent living, or challenges doing errands alone, 7.2%; hearing, 6.1%; and vision, 4.8%.

Purple Goat’s advice on improving disability representation for brands includes:

• Partnering with disabled individuals to guarantee campaigns are genuinely inclusive
• Conducting specific market research involving disabled individuals
• Featuring models with different types of disabilities
• Employing more diverse and inclusive teams
• Ensuring content and campaigns are accessible
• Offering DEI training to all employees

Nielsen suggested, “When it comes to creative development, brands can cast more disabled people and develop more inclusive storylines, while being careful not to slip into ‘inspiration porn,’ which is often used to motivate non-disabled people at the expense of the disabled experience.”

In a recent column for Little Black Book, Hugh Boyle, founding partner of Doable, the first marketing agency founded and staffed by employees with disabilities, wrote that with the overall heightened focus on inclusivity, many ads including a disabled person are “‘about’ disability, not an ad that simply ‘includes’ disability.”

Ads highlighting challenges remain critical, he said, to reduce discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities. However, Boyle, a leg amputee, wishes more focus was put on daily routines that can help “normalize” disability.

He wrote, “It troubles me that most often, whenever we show disability in advertising, we have to point it out. We ask our audiences to ‘look at this inspirational disabled athlete’ or ‘look at this brave little child,’ when take it from me, in real disabled life most days pass by without inspiration or bravery.”