NAD Works With PepsiCo On Super Bowl Ad In American Sign Language

Main Category: Hearing / Deafness
Also Included In: Ear, Nose and Throat
Article Date: 25 Jan 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) was asked by PepsiCo to provide advice, feedback, and comments on a 60-second commercial filmed entirely in American Sign Language (ASL), with open captions for hearing viewers. The PepsiCo ad, featuring PepsiCo employees, will be aired on February 3, 2008 during the Super Bowl pre-game program.

Slated to air on the FOX network, the PepsiCo ad is designed to bring greater awareness of the American deaf community to a wide audience. PepsiCo will also sponsor captioning of the entire Super Bowl broadcast.

"The NAD applauds PepsiCo for its strong commitment to diversity and empowerment through the creation of this exciting ad in ASL with its employees," said Bobbie Beth Scoggins, president of the NAD. "This ground-breaking ad creatively uses humor to provide a glimpse of deaf culture and heightened awareness to millions of Super Bowl Sunday viewers."

President Scoggins and others at the NAD provided consultation on the story boards, pre-production plans, and post production editing. She was also interviewed by PepsiCo and quoted in their press release. In addition, a description of the NAD and link to the NAD website will be included on the PepsiCo website.

This all started in the summer of 2006 when a group of PepsiCo employees, each with their own personal connection to the American deaf community, set off on their own to create a commercial with a deaf focus and broad appeal. None of the employees are performers or marketing specialists - they came up with the concept, wrote the script, and then acted it out, sharing a demo tape with their colleagues. The ad eventually gained support from senior management, which decided that the commercial needed a big stage. Naturally, they chose the biggest - Super Bowl Sunday. The title of the ad is "Bob's House" and it is based on a popular joke within the deaf community.

National Association of the Deaf