How Ableism Sneaks Into Health Campaigns—and What to Do Instead

Welcome to the Health Marketing Collective, where strong leadership meets marketing excellence. In today's episode, we dive into a crucial yet often overlooked aspect of marketing: disability representation and inclusive messaging. Host Sara Payne is joined by Kelsey Lindell, founder of Misfit Media, a trailblazer in helping brands improve their disability representation in health, wellness, and social impact campaigns. Kelsey shares her personal journey and experiences, highlighting how advertising can unintentionally perpetuate ableism even in well-meaning campaigns. She emphasizes the need to rebuild trust with audiences that have been marginalized by traditional marketing narratives. Her new workshop series, "Shaping Perception," aims to educate marketing leaders on the nuances of inclusive and equitable advertising practices. Thank you for being a part of the Health Marketing Collective, where strong leadership meets marketing excellence. The future of healthcare depends on it. Key Takeaways: Understanding Bias in Advertising: Kelsey Lindell stresses the pervasive nature of ableism in advertising. Even campaigns designed to be inclusive often fall into language and visual traps that reinforce stereotypes. The discussion centers around recognizing and eliminating these biases to create genuinely inclusive messages. The Economic Argument for Inclusivity: Disability-inclusive advertising isn't just an ethical imperative—it’s a business opportunity. Kelsey highlights the significant spending power of disabled individuals, stating their representation in advertising is starkly underdeveloped. Brands stand to gain by authentically engaging with this vast audience. Effective Workshops and Training for Change: Kelsey's workshops, like "Shaping Perception," offer foundational insights into effective disability representation. These sessions are essential for creatives across all levels, providing interactive experiences through real ad evaluations and strategic discussions on avoiding ableist narratives. Reframing Disability in Health Messages: In health care, empowering language often backfires with disabled and chronically ill communities. Kelsey advises replacing clichés with narratives that respect the lived experiences of individuals, focusing on allyship rather than unwarranted optimism, thus enhancing authenticity and connection. Frameworks for Inclusive Marketing: Kelsey introduces various models—medical, charity, and social—that shape how disability is represented. She advocates for the social model, which pushes for societal adjustments rather than "fixing" individuals, underlining the importance of building a society that accommodates all abilities. Explore Kelsey's insights and learn more about shaping marketing strategies that matter. Embrace the chance to make a real difference by understanding and involving one of the most overlooked yet impactful communities in today's marketing landscape. Join us in this essential journey toward greater inclusivity.   [embed]https://youtu.be/mg-xVnaLUV8[/embed] Special Listener Offer As a listener of The Health Marketing Collective, you can access Misfit Media’s foundational workshop, Shaping Perception, on demand at a discounted rate—and get exclusive access to the upcoming Rebuilding Trust in Health Messaging session on May 8th. These workshops are designed for marketers who want to avoid unintentional harm, build inclusive campaigns that actually work, and earn trust with disabled and chronically ill audiences. Join Kelsey's Workshop!   About Kelsey Lindell   Kelsey Lindell is a disability inclusion advisor to marketing executives and creative teams who shape buying behavior through advertising. As the founder and CEO of Misfit Media, Kelsey has advised teams on their creative process to develop coherent narratives and integrative inclusion strategies which drive intended results with the disabled community, a sector that boasts $13 trillion in spending power.   Since founding Misfit Media in 2022, Kelsey has educated over 750,000 creative professionals and advised teams from Target, National Geographic, Boston Scientific and agencies of all sizes across the nation. She’s brought her insights to stages at Creative Mornings, AdFed and MIMA as a speaker and educator. Always delivering with a dose of humor, Kelsey’s voice for inclusion is further amplified by her capacity as a digital contributor to Campaign US, GOODGOODGOOD, Betches, Well + Good and Katie Couric Media.   A passionate advocate of creatives doing their best inclusive work. She believes that an informed creative industry will produce radically inclusive work, a trend she contributes to as a speaker, writer, advisor, educator and disabled person.   In 2024, Kelsey and the team at Misfit Media launched the Misfit100, an initiative that targets a 100% increase in disability inclusion in advertising by December of 2025. Learn more about the initiative and Kelsey’s work here: www.misfitmediaagency.com