I agree with you, Hilary - I don’t like cliches either, nor stereotypes, which those headlines are. Does it seem to you like those media writers don’t have any original thoughts? If I was a reporter, I’d try something like:

Pepsi celebrates cultural and language diversity in Super Bowl ad

Pepsi scores a touchdown with humorous ASL ad

Pepsi: Honk if you love ASL

Wouldn’t it be nice if being deaf and using ASL was no longer considered “disabled” or “different,” but simply a colorful thread in the tapestry that is diverse America?

I think you’re wrong. It’s a good idea sometimes to show somebody what life is like from someone else’s perspective.

I think Pepsi did the ad in good taste (pun intended).

You can’t stop the media from using a “play on words” in their headlines. That’s what they like to do. Those headline writers get bored and they think they are being clever.

[…] is always a however isn’t there? However, I have to agree with Hilary Franklin in her post, Noisy Media Capitalizes on Silence, about the print and internet media falling into cliches to make to talk up this […]

In a way, I think that this commercial makes deaf people look inconsiderate. I would NEVER honk my horn up and down a street. I know it’s a joke…but still it’s the principle.

Just watched the ad and found it totally unrealistic - what are the odds these days of two Deaf people going about without either of them having a sidekick or blackberry? Please.

Hilary made a valid point and they are worth thinking about in light of society’s’ greater awareness about deaf individuals. Yet, the readers’ comments make it sound like we should be arguing that they should have focused on the use of ASL rather than silence.

I disagree with “Curious Eyes”. It’s the absence of sound that should unite us all together. Not American Sign Language. Believe it or not, not many hearing people know what ASL means and what it represents to us. Further, many of them really don’t care other than saying, “I think ASL is beautiful”. What they do understand is that deaf people can’t hear and that is what the media is drawing its observation from.

I agree with “Deep Ears”. I thought this commercial was beautiful. Was it realistic? Not completely but take a look at a sampling at any of the commercials. None of them are wholly realistic. Did it portray the deaf actors as being rude? On the contrary, it showed them thinking out of the box when faced with a seemly insurmountable problem. Finally, it’s not in dispute that the commercial was hilarious.

For once: let’s stop nitpicking. We saw something totally cool and neat.

While I agree that the media could do a better job in its characterization of anything relating to deafness, the headlines about this TV advertisement don’t perturb me. It’s all merely about a Pepsi advertisement — which is different from the LA Times article purporting to be sensitive and nuanced coverage about the CSD-R football team.

Now I’ll just go back to my silent world and drink some silent coffee while engaging in some silent writing on my silent computer in my silent office.

(By the way, can’t DeafDC.com/blog get Allen Neece to write again? His writing was phenomenal, even mesmerizing. Does his writing appear anywhere else?)

I think the ideal solution to curing the screaming headlines of SILENCE! is to invite those headline writers to stay overnight at one of Gallaudet or RIT’s dorms. ;)

I agree, the silence thing gets dull quick. But that’s the only thing that the hearing understand about deafness. Deaf = silence to them. *shrugs* I’m not sure how we can combat that notion. Hopefully there will be more commercials that put ASL deaf on a national stage, and people will be focusing more on the ASL aspect than the medical aspect.

I think it is a good point about the media, and the entertainment industry too, always focusing on the supposed “silent” world of the deaf. As if all deaf people live in complete silence, which is not true. When many hearing people think of living in silence, their pity button gets pushed and they feel sorry for deaf people. I see this in movies and TV shows too, with a few exceptions.

It would be nice if people would focus on language (in this case, ASL, as is the purpose of the Pepsi commercial), rather than the misleading concept that the deaf live in silence.

In addition, the jokes told among cultural members are funny to its members because of shared values and experiences…we do run the risk now that hearing people might see this as Amos and Andy type of humor that they may few as funny, but for much different reasons than the ones that make deaf people laugh at the joke, which is the advantage deaf people have over hearing people in not being able to hear as well.

Still…is it a start? Better than nothing?? Maybe…just maybe.

That was supposed to be “that they may VIEW as funny…” not “FEW as funny” …. whoops …should have proof read better :(

I once attended a lecture by John Schulman, a Gallaudet professor who wrote a book, Deaf and Hollywood, IIRC about the title. he mentioned that silence movies in the 1920s and 1930s was how thet deaf community described the movies that time - since no one spoken. So silence can be a throwback to this era and today’s era. You know, hearing people also honked. Recently, a neighbor was fine because his son’s freind honked him and other neighbors filed complaints with the police….

Come on everyone, i think its hilarious. a different kind of perspective is always good. we can’t expect everything to be our way. make light out of it! laugh and enjoy!

After teaching ASL to hearies for several years, I can understand why the newspapers emphasize the word “silent.” Think about it: the commercial has NO sound. That will be the FIRST thing that hearies will notice, even before noticing the sign language in the commercial. That itself is a diversion of the “noisy” world they live in. For us deafies, the first thing we notice, of course, is the sign language. It’s simply the fact of life. Let us just accept that and move on. ;)

As for the commercial itself, it reminded me of the hotel Deaf joke…which was funnier than the commercial, to me anyway. The commercial was so unrealistic, first with the honking of the horn in a neighborhood but worst of all, the lights were off at the Deafie’s house??? All Deaf gatherings that I have attended and hosted have lights BLAZING from the house with numerous cars parked in the driveway and/or street. That’s how I’ve found some of those gatherings I’ve attended.

Ananke, sorry but I’m one of those Deafies without a pager. We are the rare but proud few. ;)

Y’know, some deaf people capitalize on “silence” as well, case in point, “Silent Seed”:
http://www.gloucestertimes.com.....14623.html

Some deaf sports teams use the word “Silent” in their team names too.