Unilever has launched a new campaign to help increase the number of people with disabilities working behind the camera in the advertising industry.
At present, people with disabilities only represent 8.3% of roles on-screen and 6% off-screen in the UK. Additionally, 73% of disabled content creators feel the industry is exclusionary of them.
The new ‘Believe in Talent’ campaign supports the production industry to become more inclusive and accessible for persons with disabilities behind the camera.
As part of this, Unilever has launched an ‘Inclusive Production Toolkit’ created in collaboration with content creators from the disability community to help make advertising production more disability-confident and inclusive of people’s needs. The campaign forms part of Unilever’s ‘Act 2 Unstereotype’ programme, which aims to eliminate systemic bias and barriers that are preventing under-represented communities from having full access to opportunities in the advertising industry and society more broadly, improving equity among these groups.
The group has also introduced an ‘Inclusive Set Commitment’ to include at least one person from the disabled community as part of the crew on advertising productions over €100,000.
In addition, Unilever has formed a partnership with Evenbreak, an inclusive UK-based job board that matches disabled-led candidates with inclusive employers.
“If we want to see systemic change in society, we need to see systemic change in our industry,” says Aline Santos, Chief Brand Officer and Chief Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Officer. “As we continue to strive for better creativity in our advertising and seek to build better connections with all people around the world, it’s imperative that persons with disabilities are part of the creative process, working both behind the camera and on screen,” Aline adds.
Dana Cadden, Global Head of Advertising Production at Unilever, said: “We are committed to changing the way we operate on commercial productions to ensure we harness all the great talent from the disabled community.
“Whilst we still have much to learn, if more brands can make their production sets more inclusive, they will not only create more opportunities for persons with disabilities, but also benefit immensely from the creativity they will bring to our industry.”
