Evenbreak, the global job board for disabled people run by disabled individuals, has chosen to debut its first TV commercial during an upcoming controversial documentary.
The documentary, titled ‘Rosie Jones: Am I a R*tard’, is fronted by Jones herself – a British comedian, writer and actor who has been open about her experience living with cerebral palsy. It delves into ableism and trolling, but has faced criticism due to its offensive title, leading some contributors to withdraw.
The recruitment company’s first ever TV advert highlights the typical stereotypes disabled people experience daily and the challenges they face when applying for work, such as lack of accessibility.
Actors in the film are all Evenbreak employees, adding further authenticity to the message. The TV spot will also be in British Sign Language (BSL) and contain subtitles.
Airing during the commercial break for Jones’ Channel 4 documentary, Evenbreaks’ advert shares the experiences of Mahomed Khatri, who is blind, Rele Laguda, a wheelchair user with a spinal injury from a car accident, and Rachael Salt, who is deafened.
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Jones aimed for the documentary to ‘reclaim the disability narrative’, but has instead been met with criticism from within the disabled community, with contributors pulling out because of the word ‘r*tard’.
Evenbreak founder, Jane Hatton, is keen to support Jones’ documentary, backing Jones’ stance on confronting disability trolling online and making technology platforms accountable for this hate crime.
“I absolutely understand why the R word can be so devastating to many disabled people,” said Hatton.
“If you choose not to watch the documentary, that’s completely understandable. We have been working since 2011 to readdress the employment opportunities for disabled people, who are much more likely to be out of work than non-disabled people.
“And you can still catch our advert in The Last Leg! In the meantime, disabled people need to support each other in fighting ableism. However, we choose to do that (and we’re all different), ableism is our common enemy,” Hatton added.
