Inclusion of People With Disabilities in Advertising
For my senior capstone project for my disability studies minor, I wrote an essay on how to best include and represent people with disabilities in advertising. This allowed me to pull together my studies and write about a passion of mine. Through this paper, I discuss how people with disabilities are currently being represented in media (TV advertisements, PSAs, TV shows, and movies), the issues with casting able-bodied people to play disabled roles, and the debate of language choices when addressing someone with a disability. At the end of the paper, I provide suggestions for guidelines companies should follow when including people with disabilities in their advertisements. I argue the importance of industries adopting these guidelines. The adoption of my suggested model (pg. 18) would allow brands to be known as innovative, disability-friendly industry leaders. I believe advertising has the power and reach to break barriers and promote inclusion for people with disabilities in a positive way. No matter what company I work for after graduation, I believe this understanding of how to include a minority group in advertising properly will be very beneficial.
Harrington Capstone Essay.docx |