5 Myths about Disability Inclusive Marketing
Despite disability being the largest historically marginalized community in the world, with over $8T in buying power, disabled people are notoriously under-represented in media, marketing and entertainment. We make up just 1% of inclusion in all advertising, and in 84% of that rare inclusion the disability community dislikes the way marketers include us. This means you still won’t get our money.
This is fascinating considering we know that:
75% consumers find companies who are inclusive in their advertising more trustworthy than those who don’t.
80% of consumers express a desire to do more business with inclusive companies.
84% of consumers have a more favorable impression of companies that include people with disabilities in their marketing.
So, what’s the hold up? Why are creative teams not prioritizing our community? And why are the few that do prioritize our “inclusion” failing to get our approval and endorsement? Let’s look at the five most common myths we see surrounding disability inclusion in marketing.
Myth 1: Disabled people don’t have buying power.
The disability community has over $8T in spending power but you know who has even more spending power? The disability adjacent community. All of us either already know someone disabled, or someday will. My husband, mother-in-law, cousin’s wife and countless friends all didn’t have anyone close, and obviously disabled, in their lives until they met me. Now, they recognize which companies lead with disability inclusion just as much as I do, and are excited about purchasing from them.
Yep, you read that right. Done well, disability inclusion in marketing will get customers excited about buying from you. I remember the first time I saw a model in Girlfriend Collective’s creative, it was a subtle inclusion through a Gen Pop framework and I couldn’t wait to go buy a $100+ pair of leggings that I absolutely did not need. It was in their early stages as a brand, and I’ve been a loyalist ever since.
Myth 2: “We know how to do this!”
Respectfully, no you don’t. Let’s take a look at this commercial:
What were your initial reactions? Did you think it was a sweet spot? Did you think it was heartwarming? Did you think it was an example of everyday inclusion?
Here’s our take on this: The red couch series is a series produced by Chick-Fil-A that features inspiring, everyday moments. They just positioned giving an autistic customer the food that he ordered as inspirational. They treated him as a customer. They made a big deal out of treating a disabled patron as a patron. This should not be something to brag about, this should be the line in the sand of “you don’t get my money unless you do this every single time.”
Not picking up what I’m putting down yet? Okay, imagine a brand highlighting that they treat their female, LGBTQIA+ or patrons of color, the same way they would their white, male, straight and cisgender patrons, and labeling it “inspirational” - Big yikes!
While there are many, many reasons that I personally think Chick-Fil-A is not inclusive of many communities, I also do not think their creative team intended to go out of their way to create content that would reinforce and double down on infantilization of disabled people. But, because of unchecked implicit bias that’s exactly what they did.
This isn’t something that just Chick-Fil-A does, either. In fact, 84% of advertisements rely on stereotypes, stigmas or tropes that harm our community.
If you’re going to be inclusive in your content to try to tap into our buying power, might I suggest not leading with tropes?
Myth 3: __________’s kid is disabled, he knows how to do this.
Hmmmm… okay so hear me out. I want you to imagine a dad and his daughter.
Does the dad love his daughter? I hope so, yeah, of course.
Will the dad have to advocate for his daughter? Unfortunately, it’s likely to some degree.
Will the dad see that sexism and living in a patriarchal world is a part of our society? Yeah, if he opens his eyes, sure.
But will the dad ever experience what it feels like to walk home late at night and feel unsafe due to being a woman? Nope.
… and we’ve seen the devastating ripple effects that happen when we put people without lived experience in the seats that direct the narrative and decision making positions about systemic oppression.
We need that dad to be an ally supporting the women’s rights movement, but we need women in seats of leadership. Disability is no different.
Myth 4: We work with ______ organization. (said org focuses on something else entirely)
There are so many incredible organizations that do amazing work for the disability community, but one thing that we believe wholeheartedly at Misfit is that the best thing for the progress of disabled people is to have the right people in the right seats.
The Paralympics do great work for disabled athletes and have been transformative in pushing disability to the forefront of many people’s minds. However the communication of the Paralympics when contrasted against the communication style of the Olympics seems to paint their disabled athletes as the butt of a joke. The Olympics uses content that narrates the incredible work and feats accomplished by athletes, as seen here and here.
When we look at the content created by the Paralympics we see videos positioning their athletes as memes or the butts of a joke (as seen here and here) which we would recommend avoiding.
The reality is that disability inclusion is a part of every facet of society, so it is understandable that if an organization specializes in one thing (like sports!) they likely won’t at others (narrative and communication).
We specialize in narrative, copy, language, strategy and positioning. We’ll refer you to others for HR advice and best practices, accessibility and events. Putting the experts in the right seats within your company is best practice for you, and for the disability community. (pssst… that means put us in your “marketing” seat!)
Myth 5: We can’t promote this without being performative.
One time I hosted a group training and the Creative Director of a beautifully inclusive ad joined us. When I asked about the reasoning behind not putting a bigger PR / placement push they said “well, it wasn’t about ‘that’ - we just wanted to be inclusive because it’s the right thing to do!”
I love the non-performative nature and genuine spirit of inclusion this team had, but here’s what they missed: doing a disability centered narrative but not optimizing it for placement actually harms our community. Think about it this way - would you directly target preteens and then post about it on LinkedIn? No way.
You’d post on TikTok, you’d do sponsored placements on TV, you’d do influencer collaborations because you know if you want to get their purchase power, you need to go where they are. When campaigns aren’t focused on disability inclusion from the moment of ideation all the way through to placement and PR, you’re depriving our community of the opportunity to buy from you.
When you deprive us of an opportunity to buy from you, your company doesn’t see the ROI on disability inclusion.
The reality is that while I wish all people had the “right thing to do” spirit of that creative team, most people make decisions based on data and profit margins. The more data we’re able to find that supports the business opportunity of disability inclusion, disability starts to become woven into the fabric of society instead of an afterthought.
So, what’s a marketer to do? Join the Misfit 100 Master Class.
We recently announced the Misfit 100, a coalition of 100 agencies and creative teams committed to doubling the representation of disabled people over the next two years. For teams ready to start tapping into that impressive buying power, we are ready to support you every step of the way.