advertising, Amputee Advertising, disability

How amputees became the disabled darlings of Madison Avenue

Recently Campaign Live, an advertising industry media outlet, published several articles tied to increasing visibility of advertising and disability. Journalist I-Hsien Sherwood wrote groundbreaking editorial tied to advertising and disability. Prior to this article, whenever advertising and disability was covered by major industry media outlets like Adweek or AdAge, typically the focus of the story centered around one ad and the person or persons with a disability featured therein. Sherwood takes a more global perspective and posits the reasons for the rise in amputees being featured in advertising. In the article I was able to share commentary on the current state of disability in advertising. Continue reading

Standard
Amputee Advertising

Stepping Forward: Advertising & The Amputee Athlete

Paralympians Break The Ad Barrier was the title of a BusinessWeek article published in 2008. Just in the recent past, only three years ago, disabled athletes were granted a small advertising foothold of endorsements and sponsorships mostly dominated by gold medal Olympians. Major marketers including Visa and McDonalds, both longtime supporters of disability advocacy and awareness, wove compelling stories of disabled athletes into their general marketing campaigns centered around the 2008 Olympic games. Antonio Lucio, Visa’s chief marketing officer said, “The person we decided to feature, Cheri Blauwet, is not just a Paralympic athlete but an incredible female role model.” Continue reading

Standard