The Exclusion of Persons with Physical Disabilities from Prime Time Television Advertising: A Two Year Quantitative Analysis

Ganahl, Dennis J.; Arbuckle, Mark

doi:10.18061/dsq.v21i2.278

Cited by 16 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Advertising images that utilised people who had impairments were ‘few and far between in mainstream media publications’ (Thomas, 2001). Indeed, although the United States was faster than the United Kingdom to reflect disability in commercial advertising (Haller & Ralph, 2001; Scott-Parker, 1989), a 2-year quantitative analysis conducted in 1998–1999 found that people who had visible impairments were portrayed ‘far less frequently in the commercials than their 6.5% of the population as reported by the Census Bureau (1994)’ (Ganahl & Arbuckle, 2001). In relation to Britain, advertisements on American television were more prevalent and less restricted (Haller & Ralph, 2001), but nonetheless harshly underrepresented people who had impairments.…”

Section: A Recent Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

An advertising aesthetic: Real beauty and visual impairment

Bolt

2014

British Journal of Visual Impairment

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This paper considers critical responses to disability in twentieth-century AngloAmerican advertisements from which a problematic advertising aesthetic emerges. The aesthetic is used to test the progressiveness of a recent trilogy of Dove advertisements that represents visual impairment. The conclusion is that, while there has been much progress, the ableist advertising aesthetic of decades ago remains an issue in the twenty-first century.More specifically, the Dove advertisements are found to be underpinned by ocularcentrism, despite their apparent appreciation of visual impairment.

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Section: A Recent Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

An advertising aesthetic: Real beauty and visual impairment

Bolt

2014

British Journal of Visual Impairment

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“…And [their] standard is blonde and blue eyed.” 3 This narrow scope may account for why few disabled people have been featured in product advertisements and why they are practically nonexistent in television ads (Ganahl and Kallem, 1998). In an industry defined by an “image is everything” modus operandi, to borrow from (Ganahl and Arbuckle, 2001: 6), images must exude “power, credibility and appeal”—qualities dissociated from disability. Givhan’s statement also suggests that what drives innovation is a conscious effort among leaders—some form of cultural entrepreneurship that calls into question the risk-reward ratio typically excluding disability from fashion images.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A model who looks like me: Communicating and consuming representations of disability

Pettinicchio

2021

Journal of Consumer Culture

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Diversity in the fashion industry, it seems, is on the rise, with recent efforts poised to address the exclusion of people with disabilities. Based on a content analysis of editorials, advertising campaigns, and 213 online consumer comments between 2014 and 2019, we examine how diversity is showcased: specifically, whether images of disability serve to challenge or reinforce negative stereotypes. We find that market logics constrain the use of models with disabilities and shape their posturing in advertisements and fashion images. While consumers respond favorably to these images, demanding disability be more regularly and prominently featured, they are often responding to images that are sanitized and naïvely conceived. Nonetheless, we show how consumer feedback interacts with the production process, which in turn can challenge market logics, providing opportunities for increased representation. We shed light on how cultural representations reflect, shape, and challenge broader sociocultural norms and values.

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“…Nevertheless, people with a visible disability are almost entirely absent from US prime-time television [7]. Indeed, very few TV characters are disabled [8], while films very seldom feature children or youth with impairments; characters with learning disabilities are particularly rarely included [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of a film portrayal of a police officer with spinal cord injury on attitudes towards disability: a media effects experiment

Reinhardt

Pennycott²,

Fellinghauer

2013

Disability and Rehabilitation

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Restrictions in participation may result from an interaction of persons with impairments with an environment that is dominated by negative attitudes towards disability The portrayal of disabled people in the media can influence the public's attitudes towards disability in both positive and negative ways In this experimental study, attitudes of the general public were significantly improved following viewing a short film featuring a positive media portrayal of a police officer with paraplegia.

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The Exclusion of Persons with Physical Disabilities from Prime Time Television Advertising: A Two Year Quantitative Analysis

Cited by 16 publications

References 9 publications

An advertising aesthetic: Real beauty and visual impairment

An advertising aesthetic: Real beauty and visual impairment

A model who looks like me: Communicating and consuming representations of disability

Impact of a film portrayal of a police officer with spinal cord injury on attitudes towards disability: a media effects experiment

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