Advertising Disability

Ella Houston is a Senior Lecturer in Disability Studies and core member of the Centre for Culture & Disability Studies at Liverpool Hope University.

• 0.Introduction. 1.From Misfortune to Mainstream: The Evolving Nature of Representations of Disability in Advertising. 2.Money Maker, Piss Taker: Charity Sadvertising and Non-Disabled 'Saviours'. 3.Masking Madness: Pathologizing Portrayals of Mental Health Issues in Advertising. 4.Crossing the (Tag)line: When Advertisers Take Controversial, Humorous and Risky Approaches to Representing Disability. 5.From Disavowed to Desirable: Sexy, Sanitised and Speculative Appeals. 6.The Cost of Fame: Disabled Supercrips, Superstars and Social Media Influencer Marketing. x.Conclusion

Advertising Disability is truly a significant and much-needed book because it reminds CDS scholars and media studies scholars not to forget advertising content about disability in their research. Persuasive media like advertising impacts the way billions of people have seen disability for many decades. Houston calls for the advertising industry to shift its structure to better include disabled consultants or disabled employees in the creation of ads so the industry can have campaigns that embrace the disability rights mantra of “nothing about us without us.” In addition to the inclusion of disabled people in the creative process, Houston challenges the advertising industry to reject tokenism and ableist aesthetics in favor of diverse and authentic representations of disabled people with and without apparent disabilities. The book also creates a methodology for analyzing advertising and social media marketing that is informed by the lived experiences of disability activists, who can share their embodied understanding of disability, impairments, and mental health issues.Beth HallerTowson University"A key text for our current age of marketing and mass media"Saul Leslie