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Abstract-As a well-acknowledged creator of cultural norms today, advertising shapes societal attitudes for a majority of the population that receives its cultural inputs from the media. Building upon previous research on the depiction of disability in media, this study examined whether advertising has helped "dispel stereotypes and make disability apart of the social and mental landscape " (Panol & McBride, 2001, p. 48). A content analysis of ads in the top two circulating magazines in the categories of sports, fashion, and general interest/news (Sports Illustrated and ESPN, Vogue and Cosmopolitan, Time and Newsweek, respectively) was undertaken. A total of 96 issues of these magazines published from May-October 2003 were analyzed for presence of ads which included a disability. Of a total of 3,947 ads in these magazines, only 29 (0.73%) of them contained any textual and/or visual depiction of disability. Research questions explored ad and disability characteristics, and the presence of noteworthy relations between them. Overall, findings suggest that advertising s portrayal of disability still leaves much to be desired and has done little to alleviate the perpetuation of negative attitudes regarding disabilities.
In the United States today, the population of persons with disabilities (as defined and counted by the 2000 Census) is approximately 50 million, and their combined purchasing power is over $700 billion (Bauman, 2003). The lucrative potential of this "minority" group has not sufficiently awakened the advertising community to attend to it. It is a well-acknowledged fact that advertising's images shape social attitudes for the majority of the population which receives its myriad inputs from the media. Panol and McBride (2001) have therefore discussed a trend toward featuring people with disabilities in mainstream media, which would help dispel stereotypes and make disability a part of the social landscape. The important question this research addresses is whether this is the case or is merely an impression advertisers are creating regarding advertisings portrayal of disability. This study presents an overview of existing research on people with disabilities and their presence in print advertisements, and provides recommendations for rehabilitation counselors to be advisors, advocates, and consultants towards facilitating the integration of people with disabilities within advertising media.
Print publications are still the primary medium of choice for advertisers, garnering around 27% of all advertising...