Cadbury Turns To Chocolate Fingers To Promote Learning Sign Language

Cadbury is giving abled persons a taste of everyday life for the deaf community through a campaign that highlights the struggle of being in a world catered to hearing folks.

Its short film, directed by Lucy Bridger, follows a young teenage girl as she stands in the chaos of her family kitchen. She first turns to the camera and begins communicating in British Sign Language (BSL).

Closed captions sit at the bottom of the screen for people to understand what she is saying. Her mother and brother then come on screen, and as they move about the kitchen, the captions are unexpectedly covered, making it difficult for hearing individuals to understand what the protagonist is saying.

The video captures what living is like for those in a world ruled by people who can hear. The girl is seen cast off to the side, with her message going unread by hearing viewers.

To combat this, Cadbury is introducing Sign With Fingers Big and Small, which combines the brand’s chocolate fingers with real-life fingers used to sign words.

The chocolate brand worked with the National Deaf Children’s Society, VCCP, creative studio Girl&Bear, and deaf author Rebecca Withey to create the spot.

Sign With Fingers will be a full-fledged initiative that will first implement closed captions in all of Cadbury’s digital videos. The short film will also be released on television and online, while other promotions, including engaging influencers, will also take place.

Inclusivity of the deaf community is still unseen as many companies fail to take into account hearing-impaired audiences when creating advertisements. Cadbury aims not only to include the deaf but also to normalize learning BSL even if you don’t know anyone who is deaf.

In order to do this, the company is releasing short clips teaching people different phrases in BSL, from asking someone if they would like a cup of tea to other conversational topics such as soccer and TV. People can also sign up for the lessons and have them delivered straight to their email. 

[via Little Black Book and The Drum, cover image via Cadbury]