Disabled in Non Pity Ad, Success

I saw the ad above on Adfreak and I just had to write about it. Why, you ask? Because the featured model is missing a limb, it is extremely rare that a person with a disability is featured in an ad that doesn’t scream, “Pity me.” Granted the ad was created for a campaign to help raise awareness about disability issues in the French speaking area of Belgium. But be honest, disability isn’t the first thing you thought when you saw the ad? As somebody with an advertising background and a disability I was extremely proud of this ad.

The advertisement—placed in newspapers and postcards distributed in restaurants around Brussels. Again, the campaign was meant to bring awareness to disability issues. The company behind the campaign is CAP48, a non-profit that helps raise awareness of disability issues in Belgium.

The model, Tanja Kiewitz, a Belgian graphic designer is missing her left arm just past the elbow. Kiewitz has become quite the celebrity since the ad first began to appear. I wonder if that’s because Belgians were shocked or surprised?

The ad is a play on another ad that featuring Eva Herzigova, in the apparently famous Wonderbra print ad below.

Also, the headline reads, “look me in the eyes … I said the eyes.”

The agency behind the print ad (above) is Air Brussels.