I’m not asking to be a firefighter!
Foundation Integration
Issue 40 | September 2016
Agency
Walk Digital
Creative Team
Creative Director Aleksander Frydrych Copywriter Magdalena “Bronka” Braniewska Web Designer Piotr Pogorzelski Szymon Rajca
Production Team
Director Maciej Kowalczuk Agency Producer Marta Bresinska Production Company Lucky Luciano Postproduction DI Factory LocoMotiv Sound FX, Sound Mix Sound Tropez
Date
March 2016
Background
In Poland, as elsewhere, disabled people suffer twice. First, from the debilitating effects of their condition; and second, from the stereotypical belief that their disability means they can't perform many jobs.
The result is that 78% of people with disabilities are unemployed. By asking for donations, most Polish public service ads perpetuate the stereotype.
Disability support organisation Foundation Integration wanted to challenge employer thinking that prevented the disabled from getting jobs.
Idea
To break the taboo and change the conversation, Integration Foundation needed an idea that would make the public notice.
Via an online casting session, people with different kind of disabilities were recruited to play the role of firefighters in a YouTube video – the last sort of job a disabled person could do.
The resulting video showed a squad of disabled firefighters responding to an emergency. An amputee struggles to slide down the pole; a man in a wheelchair can't get to the engine in time; a blind man, accompanied by his guide dog, drives the fire truck; and a double-arm amputee can't handle the hose.
It's a joke of course. The disabled stars laugh at their limitations. "I never wanted to be a firefighter," they say, revealing themselves to be teachers, IT experts, data analysts, HR executives, and musicians.
Not surprisingly, Foundation Integration had zero budget to get the message over. PR took the video viral, and it went national with TV broadcasters.
Results
Including TV, the video was seen 9 million times. Leading politicians promised to investigate and a petition to change the law on disabled employment is gathering momentum.
The Polish Social Insurance Institution is running the video in its offices, adding 20,000 viewers a day to the campaign's reach.
Our Thoughts
This is undoubtedly a serious subject, but it’s treated in such an irreverent way that its impact is huge. It’s difficult to watch the video and not look hard at the way we think about disabled people, and the way we treat them.
Of course they want to work – indeed, their motivation is probably greater than the able-bodied – and of course they have useful and relevant skills.
What’s the secret here? I think it’s the way that the disabled ‘firefighters’ poke fun at themselves that disarms (no pun intended) our prejudices.