While sensitive people have gone a long way to eliminate ethnically and sexually derogatory words from their vocabularies, these same people persist in using the r-word (retard or retarded), unaware or dismissive of its hurtful effect on people with intellectual disabilities. Our goal is to raise awareness and eliminate this word from everyday speech.

This spot contains stand-ins for several crude or inappropriate words, defined as follows:

- B-word means bitch.

- F-word means fuck (along with various iterations)

- S-word means shit.

In addition, the word “word” can be used as a greeting as in “What’s up?” or when agreeing with someone.

With the rampant use of “retard(ed)” on social media, Twitter was key to meeting offenders on common ground. Our target continues to use “retard(ed)” and the word is thought to be harmless, not hurtful: just a lazy substitute for dumb, stupid or lame.

By using our existing handle @Endtheword we could engage our target in a way that was unique to Special Olympics and its mission of inclusion and respect for all.

Through the R-Word exchange we did not “scold,” but entered into a humorous and thought provoking conversation that made people reflect on the words they use.

The compelling concept elevated engagement and awareness to “End the R-Word” platform. Key one day metrics include:

- @EndTheWord impressions 735K,

- #Rword hashtag saw nearly 2 million timeline deliveries.

- Tweets garnered about 700 engagements in the form of retweets, mentions, replies and favorites.

-259 contributors helped drive over 250K unique impressions.