TV commercials that may not
make sense
Just because a person is visually impaired,
blind, dyslexic or print disabled, does not mean they do not
listen to TV commercials.
We are consumers of products (just like everyone else) however
this information may only be relayed if we know what you are
selling and who is selling it.
We like to know the product being sold, and any relevant contact
details - like the name, phone numbers, and web addresses
etcetera.
When listening to a commercial on the radio, the radio ad gives
enough information to the consumer so that they may know what the
commercial is trying to sell them. It usually includes the
product, phone numbers, web addresses and who it is being sold by.
This may vary from commercial to commercial.
This does not seem to happen on some TV commercials that are
broadcast to the public. They will use logos for the name of the
business instead of having it spoken out. It is the same for phone
numbers and web addresses.
The easiest way for a sighted person to know what a visually
impaired, blind, dyslexic or print disabled consumer might hear,
is to shut their eyes when a TV commercial is airing and see if
they can make sense of that ad. If they can (and it gives out
enough information audio wise for them to buy the product) then
the producers of that commercial are doing the job right. You
should be able to (without facing the TV) know what the TV
commercial is about, and hear the relevant details required to buy
that product or to at least find out more information about it.
There are plenty of TV commercials that use visuals to do the same
sort of thing. Because these are not spoken out, we do not have a
clue of what some of the commercials are about.
Examples of NZ TV commercials that
reach everyone
Below are some examples of TV commercials that
should make sense to a visually impaired, blind, dyslexic or print
disabled person:
0800 838383 Pizza Hut
Pak'n'Save ads
Countdown ads
The Warehouse ads
Noel Leeming ads
Harvey Norman ads
Examples of NZ TV commercials that
may not reach everyone
Below are some examples of TV commercials that
may not make sense to a visually impaired, blind, dyslexic or
print disabled person:
NEON TV - information on what Neon TV is, and their monthly fee
ad.
A series of snippets of movies are shown, and text appears
showing "14 day free trial" and "$13-95 per month". Also, the text
"neontv.co.nz" however none of this information is verbalised!
Something as simple as "Get Neon TV from $13-95 per month" would
give you a clue as to what this ad is about!
Sky Sport - Life needs more sport ad.
A Dad attempts to change his son into his swimming gear, and the
young toddler takes off, streaking down the beach with two
lifeguards trying to stop him. A commentary says "He has left them
in his wake, and he has gone!". Audibly you also hear part of the
song "Let it all hang out". Neither of these audible clues really
say who the ad is for now how it relates to Sky Sport. At the end,
some text reads "Life needs more sport. Sky sport". A simple
verbalisation such as "Get Sky sports today" would suffice.
Spark NZ - Balance screen time with play time ad.
A young boy talks to his robot about balancing screen time and
playtime. At the end of the ad is the Spark logo and the words
Little can be huge. Visually this makes sense, however without the
name Spark being spoken at the end of the ad, it is not
identifiable as a Spark ad!
NZTA - Slow down for them ad.
In this ad people who are in vehicles share their ideas on
speeding. All this ad needs at the end of it is the words "Slow
down on our roads - New Zealand Transport Agency" spoken aloud (or
something similar) to make it easily identifiable.
BNZ - Bank of being good with money ad.
Visually this ad pulls on the heart strings with a Dad giving his
daughter a puppy. The music matches the ad, but unless you can see
the text or read the BNZ logo it makes no sense. A voiceover at
the end saying BNZ - bank of doing great things with your money
might help.
Lotto - Powerball armoured truck ad.
This ad alludes to an idea of two men in a vehicle driving away
with whatever is on board, thinking about how they might spend
money. It does not however say something like "Lotto powerball -
how would you spend yours?" at the end - which would make this ad
make sense at the end!
Lotto - Powerball imagine ad.
A son and grandfather wait for the Dad to return from his fishing
boat out at sea. When Grandad wins Powerball he is able to take
the grandson to meet his son on a pirate ship with them both
dressed in seafaring costumes. Towards the end of the ad you see a
yellow ticket as they embrace - upon meeting after so long. To
make this ad inclusive, audibly it could say "Powerball - imagine
what you would do" at the end - making it clearly a Lotto ad
(which at present is not stated verbally).
BCITO - construction apprenticeship ad.
A row of 5 blue portaloos in close proximity is shown, and
three men converse through the walls. The ad features a
businessman (the Dad) an apprentice (the son) and a fellow worker
on site. It shows the BCITO logo at the end. The Dad says "Michael
are you there?" to which the young man sits quietly trying to
ignore his father while on the dunny. In text you see "Trade up to
a construction apprenticeship". To make this ad inclusive, they
could simply verbalise this last quote, and add "BCITO" after it!
Please note:
As TV ads are discovered that do not make sense, this list may be
added to.
With some of the ads, a simple voiceover at the end would
complement the visual features and sounds of the ad. Alternately,
this could also be achieved using a secondary audio track (if they
do not want to take away from the visuals). Some simple
adjustments, could make these TV ads just as inclusive as their
radio ad counterparts. Increasing both your viewing and listening
audience, simply makes good business sense!