End the Awkward
Social situations with the potential for extreme awkwardness and embarrassment. Quick-wit. Deadpan delivery. These commercials combine so much of what we love about British humor in 52 short seconds.
More importantly, these ads masterfully leverage comedy to address a very serious issue of perception and acceptance of people with disabilities. Scope, a London-based disability advocacy organization, discovered that two thirds of British adults are uncomfortable talking to a person with a disability. This attitude, twice as prevalent among millennials, is most likely to stem, not from malice, but from a fear of causing offense by saying or doing the wrong thing.
"It turns out—in true British fashion—that we feel awkward and don't know how to act," said Richard Hawkes, Chief Executive for Scope.
Scope launched their "End the Awkward" campaign "to out the awkwardness that lots of people feel in everyday situations, and begin to shift the attitudes of a younger generation who might not have thought a lot about disability."
Though these folks clearly never got the People First Language memo, we think you will get a kick out of the clever interactions between two people who should not feel separated by disability.
Bend Over Guy: You don't even have to press play to cringe for this one.
Pick-up Guy: Should he stay or should he go?
Interview Gal: Where does she see herself in 5 seconds?
There is even a quiz to determine whether you are the Ambassador of Cool or Captain Awkward. Spoiler Alert: It's not much of a challenge to achieve ambassador status, but the obviously wrong answers are worth the read!
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