Aldi and ITV Launch Signed Ad Break During Deaf Awareness Week

Aldi has partnered with ITV to broadcast its first ever fully signed ad break during Coronation Street on Monday 14th May with all adverts to be signed to mark the start of Deaf Awareness Week (May 14th-20th).

The signed ad break, which is a collaboration between the broadcaster and Aldi, will launch with the exclusive first broadcast of Aldi’s new Like Brands advert.

Aldi’s new advert, created by McCann UK, features Maisie Sly, star of the Oscar winning film, the Silent Child and her mum in their first ever advertising campaign.

Ad agency McCann UK worked with ITV to engage additional brands with Microsoft, Gaviscon, Nurofen, Matalan, Velux, WeBuyAnyCar and Money Supermarket all featuring in the ad break.

The collaboration between ITV and Aldi, highlights their support for Deaf Awareness Week, which runs from 14th–20th May to raise awareness of the challenges of deafness and hearing loss faced by 1 in 6 people across the UK. There are around 9 million people in this country who have some form of deafness ranging from hard of hearing to profound deafness. Approximately 50,000 deaf people in the UK use British Sign Language (BSL) as their first or preferred language and there are many others who know and use sign language.

Adam Zavalis, Marketing Director for Aldi UK comments: “We are delighted to be supporting the UK Council on Deafness in their annual Deaf Awareness Week campaign. Our new advert is completely silent and signed – a first for Aldi, and demonstrates our wider commitment to inclusivity, all delivered in Aldi’s irreverent style.”

Kelly Williams, ITV Managing Director, Commercial said: “With the size and scale of audience for a programme like Coronation Street, we’re able to use the power of TV to make sure people know about Deaf Awareness Week. Showcasing Aldi’s innovative new advert and working with McCann to bring other brands on board makes this a truly creative partnership, the result of which I hope will really resonate with viewers.”

Craig Crowley MBE, Chair of UK Council on Deafness commented: “On behalf of our member organisations we are indebted to Aldi for showcasing the importance of Deaf Awareness to the general audience/viewers via this fabulous advert. Accessibility, equality and inclusion are the cornerstones of our work with Deaf, Hard of Hearing, deafened and Deafblind people throughout the UK.”

McCann UK’s Managing Director, Aldi, Simon Buchanan said: “We are incredibly proud to extend our highly successful Like Brands campaign in supporting UK Deaf Awareness Week.”