Cultural Context

Since Rihanna’s American Sign Language Superbowl performance went viral, more American Sign Language song covers have been trending on social. Yet, British Sign Language (BSL) hasn’t been given as much of a spotlight in culture. Even though BSL has been in use for hundreds of years, the British Parliament only legally recognised it as a language in 2022.

We saw an opportunity to raise awareness for British Sign Language with The Ford Mustang Mach-E  — the 1st car in the UK with a hands-free assisted driving mode. 

Idea

With the Ford Mustang Mach-E’s hands-free mode, now everyone can sing while driving — even the Deaf community. So we partnered with the British Deaf Association, UK's leading registered charity for Deaf people, to create Ford BSL Covers: a BSL cover of Express Yourself by British musician Labrinth, starring Deaf talents Charis Townsend & Lisa Kelly sign-singing in hands-free mode.

​

To further raise awareness, we partnered with BSL influencers to create additional social content encouraging their followers to learn the signs and share them with the world.

Ford BSL Covers not only highlighted the Mustang Mach-E's hands-free mode but also meaningfully brought attention to the Deaf community. 

 

To represent the Deaf community authentically, we: 

• Ensured equal access to opportunities with an open casting call

• Engaged BSL interpreters for every meeting

• Had a BSL performance coach on set to ensure accurate signing

• Included a BSL version of our press release

• Shared learnings to inspire more Deaf-friendly shoots

 

Through this, we reached 28 million impressions and 1.4 million engagements on social media while internally, Ford has committed to more Deaf-inclusive policies.