Bringing BSL to the Beautiful Game

Tin Man

Client: Cadbury Fingers

How to deliver a high profile and mass reach amplification event for Cadbury Fingers’ partnership with National Deaf Children’s Society for the second year running?

Inclusivity in shared experiences became our goal and using the connecting power of sport we brought deaf and hearing fans together in an event alongside Britain’s most culturally embraced love: football. It’s no surprise that football is the most popular sport amongst deaf people. And nothing beats the thrill of watching a live game. But the fact that 55% of deaf people regularly feel left out of match day experiences is no cause for celebration. The most emotive and inclusive moment of any match experience is joining with fellow fans to sing your team’s anthem. We wanted to own this moment. Partnering with 40,000 football Chelsea FC fans at Stamford Bridge stadium, we made history with a powerful and heart-warming half time performance of iconic Chelsea club anthem ‘Blue is the Colour’ in British Sign Language. We coupled our emotive PR event with Chelsea’s top players learning a range of everyday BSL phrases and long-term commitments were made to improve deaf inclusion across the club. The campaign achieved: • 4.6 million organic views of our content in one month • Since the campaign, 50% of Brits would now consider learning some BSL for the purposes of inclusion • The campaign contributed to the brand’s double digit growth with Cadbury Fingers taking No. 1 spot in the sweet biscuits equity index in 2023