We partnered with 13 of Australia’s biggest and most loved brands to reshoot a scene within their most iconic TVCs, replacing existing talent with a person with disability. We worked with our production partners and clients to replicate each scene as closely and authentically as possible to the original asset to ensure an accurate re-enactment.

Despite almost 20% of Australians having some form of visible or non-visible disability, only 1% are represented by brands in advertising, leaving a large portion of the Australian population feeling unseen and unacknowledged.

Partnering with the Dylan Alcott Foundation, we were tasked with not only raising awareness around the current lack of visibility of people with disability in mainstream media, but also inspiring long term change.

Our campaign objectives were to:

1. Raise awareness around the lack of visibility of people with disability in advertising.

2. Incite brands to commit to increasing disability representation and inclusion.

3. Begin the shift towards normalising disability in our everyday lives by increasing representation in communications to truly reflect the Australian population.

4. Ensure long lasting change by creating a centralised body and resources to help brands increase representation and inclusion. With the ultimate goal of reaching true representation by 2028.

The campaign achieved blanket coverage across the national and global media landscape:

600M impressions. Estimated combined reach of 96% amongst Australians 18+

144 pieces of media coverage in AU, 467 pieces of coverage in the US. Opportunity to see: 434.9M

78% uplift in recall of disability representation in participating brand’s advertising in the first 3-weeks.

10% increase in overall recall of disability representation in advertising in the first 3-weeks.

63% of viewers felt more positive about a brand after seeing advertising featuring people with disability (PWD), and 27% said they’d take some kind of action

Post launch, 200+ brands, organisations and agencies reached out to see how they could get involved - a number which continues to climb.

However the true marker of success was the response from the community of PWD, with personal stories shared expressing gratitude for the campaign's role in raising awareness and fostering positive lasting change.

In Australia, As with the rest of the world, people with visible and non-visible disability are severely under-represented in mainstream culture, leading them to feel ‘other’. Traditionally, when they have been represented in campaigns it was typically either 1. In a Road Accident commercial, portrayed as a deterrent to show people how their life would end up if they had an accident, or 2. As token inclusion, as a background extra. But the truth is, people with disability live normal lives. They buy shampoo, they get insurance, they bank, they buy underwear, they order food to their home etc. But, we never get to see them doing normal things on our screens and advertising communications.

This response centres around disability representation and inclusion - and important to note, while our campaign shows people with disability in front of the camera, we also had people with disability behind the camera, as part of our crew. Even our case study video was edited - and narrated - by people with disability.

About the Dylan Alcott Foundation -

The Dylan Alcott Foundation is led by Australian of the Year, Paralympian and ‘Golden Slam’ winning wheelchair tennis champion, Dylan Alcott AO. It is committed to helping Australians living with disability overcome the barriers in their daily lives, including barriers in representation, inclusion and recognition.

In Australia, Dylan is highly regarded and respected for his activism, advocating for inclusion and representation of people with disability.

The Dylan Alcott Foundation’s core objective is to help Australians living with disability overcome the barriers in their daily lives, including barriers in representation, inclusion and recognition. Likewise, the foundation brands that committed to joining The Shift 20 Initiative, not only for launch, but beyond mirror these values and are working together towards a more representative, inclusive and accessible future for those living with both visible and non-visible disability.