240MC Week 3 Cultural and Semiotic Analysis of Advertising Advertising and Disability John Keenan

1. 240MC Week 3 Cultural and Semiotic Analysis of Advertising Advertising and Disability John Keenan john.keenan@coventry.ac.uk

2. People like me do not want sympathy, they want respect.

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0HZaPkF6qE 4.10-5.48 The disabling effects of the society Browns

4. Labelling • Symbolic Anhilation • Stereotypes

5. Labelling We are all disabled

6. Labelling Labelling Who is disabled?

7. What types of disability are there? • Physical disability • Sensory disability • Intellectual disability • Mental health and emotional disabilities • Developmental disability

8. Labelling Solutions: ‘differently abled’ People are not disabled, society disables. However, we need labels for identity we need labels to redress the balance ‘the emphasis on ‘ability not disability’…is a denial of the status of the disabled person…’Colin Barnes, Disabled People in Britain and Discrimination, 1991, London: Hurst and Co, p.203 ‘Logic dictates that if disabled people are perceived as ‘normal’, then there is little need for the introduction of policies to facilitate their integration into ‘normal’ society’ Colin Barnes, Disabled People in Britain and Discrimination, 1991, London: Hurst and Co, p.203

9. http://odi.dwp.gov.uk/disability-statistics-and-research/disability-facts-and-figures.phphttp://odi.dwp.gov.uk/disability-statistics-and-research/disability-facts-and-figures.php

10. Symbolic Annihilation

11. Symbolic Annihilation Gaye Tuchman ‘There are two ways in which the advertising industry contributes to the discriminatory process. First, disabled people are excluded…Secondly, some advertisers, notably charities, present a distorted view of disability’ Colin Barnes, Disabled People in Britain and Discrimination, 1991, London: Hurst and Co, p.201

12. Symbolic Annihilation Cultivation Agenda Setting

13. Symbolic Anhilation Symbolic Annihilation ‘Visibly disabled persons did not appear in advertisements until a few television commercials containing a brief glimpse of individuals using wheelchairs were released in the 1980s’ Leonard J Davis, 1997, The Disabilities Reader, New York: Routledge, p.181

14. Symbolic Anhilation Symbolic Annihilation ‘The complaint in British advertising has been that we’re just not there. That sends out the message we’re not part of society’ Laurence Clark cited in The Invisible Force, The Guardian 27/11/02 Maria Eagle

15. Google charity adverts

21. Stereotypes ‘Charity advertising fails. It does not directly generate enough money. It confuses ‘disability’ (which is the product of social discrimination) with impairment (which is the product of a medical condition). But mostly it fails because it is the visual flagship for the myth of the tragedy of impairment. It is the higher ground to which all non-disabled society looks to unburden its guilt and its able-bodied anxiety’ Disabled Lives - Fear for Sale, David Hevey http://newint.org/issue233/fear.htm

22. Stereotypes 10 Disabled Stereotypes in the Media 1. Pitiable and pathetic 2. Object of curiosity and violence 3. Sinister 4. Super-cripple 5. Atmosphere 6. Laughable 7. Her/his own worst enemy 8. A burden 9. Non-sexual 10. Unable to participate in daily life Contact No.70 Winter pp45-8 1991 Discrimination: Disabled People and the Media

24. Stereotypes ‘the disabled person as pitiable and pathetic is probably the stereotype most commonly used by charities’ Colin Barnes, Disabled People in Britain and Discrimination, 1991, London: Hurst and Co, p.202

25. Stereotypes Bad

26. Stereotypes Better

27. Bad

28. Better

29. Best

30. Best

31. However... Companies who have used disabled people in adverts: B&Q Nike Adidas Sony BT Coca-Cola Co-op Marks and Spencer The brand as a good person: ‘customers respond more positively to adverts if disabled people are featured’ Campaign to get Disabled in Adverts BBC News 24/5/99 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/351353.htm

32. Your Task

33. Through either one photo and caption Or through one advert Include disabled people. Portray disabled people in a positive way Include the disability but do not make it central to the message Theme for photo is inclusion and education Theme for advert is your course at this university Email a link or lower resolution image to and names of the people who did it: john.keenan@coventry.ac.uk by Thursday October 31st The winners will go to London (travel paid) to a government meeting and have the opportunity to have their work published

34. In the past Disabled advert