A powerful new ad campaign by the Canadian Down Syndrome Society seeks to educate people googling for answers. Via Adweek:
Titled “Down Syndrome Answers,” the series covers everything from physical and intellectual development to the cause of the condition and life expectancy of those who have it.
Overall, the clips proceed to explain—and illustrate—how people with Down syndrome can ride bicycles, read, play sports, hold down a job, cook, drive and do much more—even if those things might, in some cases, take longer to learn.
The nonprofit Canadian Down Syndrome Society created the ads with agency FCB Canada largely to help parents who are seeking information after learning their unborn child has been diagnosed with the genetic anomaly. Naturally, the clips will pop up whenever someone Googles those questions.
Even for viewers who aren’t expecting a child with Down syndrome—or in the terrible position of weighing whether or not to continue a pregnancy on account of it—the videos are more than worth the few minutes it takes to browse through them. They offer a simple, humanizing and often heartwarming window into a population that’s largely underrepresented in mass media, and often misunderstood. […]
“The majority of prospective parents know very little about Down syndrome,” says Kirk Crowther, national executive director at the Canadian Down Syndrome Society. “Doctors do their best, and there are lots of websites offering the medical perspective, but they typically use very clinical terms that don’t capture the emotional and human side of the Down syndrome story. We wanted to change that with ‘Down Syndrome Answers.’ “
Some of the other videos:
More here.