The end of September was a significant period for Brazil’s (and the international) deaf community. With ‘International Week of the Deaf’, Brazil’s ‘National Day of the Deaf’, and ‘International Day of Sign Languages’ coinciding within a fortnight, Lew’LaraTBWA and Banco de Brasil decided to craft a campaign that would commemorate Brazil’s 10 million deaf and hard of hearing citizens through a performance in Brazilian Sign Language (BSL): ‘Libras’.
Combining the movements of Libras into a dance-like performance, ‘There Are 10 Million of Us’ shows how hearing-challenged people are just like everyone else – and is enacted entirely by deaf and hard-of-hearing performers. The communications were co-created with the deaf actors and with guidance from NGO Turma do Jiló, and are designed for hearing-impaired viewers – rather than for able-bodied people, as most advertising is. This means that the spot is an exercise in empathy for the majority of viewers, as they have to read the subtitles, whilst the Libras-fluent deaf community can follow the sign language, rather than watching a picture-in-picture BSL interpreter or reading captions themselves.
The cast was chosen to portray the diversity within the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, including people who communicate with Libras, oralised speakers; wearers of cochlear implants or hearing aids; and lip-readers – as well as demonstrating an array of intersecting ages, appearances, genders, races, and ethnicities. The film shows how, like everyone else, they have their own hobbies and favourite films – and that they earn money and deserve a bank that can provide a full service in Libras.
To go behind the scenes on this campaign and discuss how Banco de Brasil and Lew’LaraTBWA connected authentically with deaf and hearing-impaired Brazilians, LBB’s Ben Conway spoke to the creative agency’s ECD, Rodrigo Tortima, and art director, Natalia Calvoso.
LBB> Where did the initial idea for this campaign come from? What was the brief like and what were some immediate ideas that came to mind?
Rodrigo and Natalia> The briefing asked us to showcase Banco do Brasil’s new customer service tool in Brazilian Sign Language – ‘Libras’. This lets deaf and hearing-impaired people communicate through BSL virtually and in real life at any branch of this bank. Initially, we thought about making a completely silent film, so that hearing viewers could experience and understand the difficulties faced by this community. However, through research and insights from our planning area, we found that there are more than 10 million deaf and hearing-impaired people in Brazil, forming a true nation within a nation. It was then that the idea of designing a campaign by and for them arose, starring members of this community as protagonists, instead of bit players.
LBB> How did you work with the Turma do Jiló and cast the deaf performers?
Rodrigo and Natalia> The …….
Source: https://www.lbbonline.com/news/how-this-banks-sign-language-ad-flips-the-inclusive-script