Brands Marking International Day of Persons with Disabilities, 2023

Published 07 December 2023

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2 min read

Marking International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3, two notable brand campaigns highlighted initiatives to advance everyday inclusion of disabled people – a crucial commercial imperative, given that approximately 16% of people globally live with a significant disability (WHO, 2022).

Key Stats

16%	The World Health Organization estimates that 1.3 billion people – 16% of the global population – experience significant disability
27%	The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has adopted a broad definition of disability, estimating that 27% of American adults have some type of disability, such as a serious difficulty with mobility, hearing or vision, or cognition
2.4m	Apple’s commercial The Lost Voice, illustrating how its Personal Voice feature can assist people who’ve lost the ability to speak, garnered 2.4 million views on YouTube in its first five days
2/3	Research by whisky brand J&B in Spain found that two-thirds of disabled people experience a lack of empathy when going out to engage in leisure or cultural activities, and 71% would go out more if inclusion and accessibility were improved
20.5%	In Spain, 4.3 million people live with a disability – equating to 20.5% of the country’s households

Apple’s Fable Brings Feel-Good Glow to Accessibility Feature: Apple’s boisterous 2022 advert The Greatest impressively demonstrated how brands can avert inspiration porn (disabled people portrayed as inspirational solely on the basis of their disability). This year’s The Lost Voice takes a quieter, more fantastical direction to showcase Apple’s new Personal Voice feature, which lets users at risk of losing their speech record audio samples to create a custom synthesised voice for use with its text-to-speech feature.

Directed by New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi, it shows a girl in a forest joining an oversized rabbit on a quest to find his lost voice. The finale reveals that the story is being read to a girl using the iPhone tool by her father – played by Tristram Ingham, a New Zealand-based disability advocate with a form of muscular dystrophy. The campaign includes a free downloadable companion children’s book.

Apple

J&B Spain’s Campaign for Nightlife Access: The Spanish arm of Scottish whisky brand J&B launched the social initiative Mi Gran Noche (“My Big Night”) – based on its research finding that 91% of people living with disabilities in Spain encounter barriers when pursuing leisure activities.

The initiative includes a partnership with Spain’s inclusivity-focused hospitality corporation Ilunion to create an accessibility guide and training programme for bar owners. A TV commercial – soundtracked by a version of the 1967 nightlife ode Mi Gran Noche – asks viewers: “How many people with disabilities do you see on a night out?” while showing several disabled people preparing to go out. As they party, onscreen copy states: “The night is brighter when the light shines on all of us.”

See also Universal Brand Landscapes, part of our Disability Futures Macro series.