92: Why are disabled people still so poorly represented in ads?

The Campaign Podcast

Despite 22% of the UK population being disabled, only 4% of UK TV ads featured disabled people in 2021. Progress is slow, with representation only increasing from 3% of TV ads in the previous year.

Campaign media editor Arvind Hickman is joined by Ade Adepitan, broadcaster and wheelchair basketball player, Steven Lacey, owner of The Outsiders marketing agency and Bobbi Carley, head of media and diversity & inclusion lead at ISBA, to discuss why the representation of disabled people in advertising is still so low.

They are all judges in this year's Channel 4 Diversity in Advertising Award.

Talk ranges from why disability lags behind ethnicity and race when it comes to diversity in ads and why brands might shy away from disability, to lived experiences that highlight the importance and impact of disabled representation in advertising.

The panel also calls out the campaigns that have gotten disability right and what can be learnt from them.

Check out the ads that we discuss in this episode:

Maltesers: “New boyfriend”

Virgin Media: “Vyper”

Channel 4: “Superhumans”

And, don’t forget, become a Campaign member to keep up to date with the latest industry news, analysis and features.

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