Nielsen examined the representation of disability-related themes, visuals, and topics in TV advertisements.
Nearly 450,000 primetime ads on broadcast and cable TV were analyzed in February 2021.
Key findings include:
1.) 26% of Americans are living with a disability.
— Only 1% of ads studied included representation of disability-related themes, visuals, or topics.
2.) 3% of the $57 million spent on the inclusion of people with a disability and disability-related themes in February went to ads featuring disabled people or that were inclusive of disability themes in the ad.
— 50% of the amount spent on disability-inclusive ads was from pharmaceuticals, healthcare treatments, devices, and similar ads.
3.) The lack of representation in linear TV and advertising has led to an increase in disabled social media influencers and creators rewriting the narrative around the media’s presentation of disability.
Read the full report here
