The victory cripple is THE go-to thematic representation of disability in media. It's EVERYWHERE. The reason it's everywhere is because agencies and marketers who are not in the community love it. It gives non-disabled people a conscience-soothing image of freedom and "joie de vivre". It's a happy picture that eases their hearts.

While there are completely valid editorial uses for images like these, in marketing they usually backfire for two main reasons.

First - The technical aspects of the image are everything disabled people avoid. Weird and dangerous places you can't get to, or away from, on your own.. have you ever tried to wheel yourself on sand in a fifty pound hospital wheelchair? If not, you should try it some time.

The other main reason is the entire concept is from an able bodied person's idea of what disabled people are (or should be) about. That a disabled person's goal is to become not disabled, which is understandable on a personal, emotional level. Who wants to be disabled? For some disabled people, that's absolutely a goal especially if it's legitimately attainable. For those who can not achieve that goal, the main focus changes from overcoming the disability itself, to mitigating the damage caused by the state of disability.

The image of the woman on the phone is a more complete concept of overcoming disability without hiding it. She's in a fitted, useable wheelchair, she's well dressed and groomed, and working in a modern, clean, bright, non-medical setting.

We don't. This type of imagery has the completely opposite reaction when marketing to disabled people. The lack of any context at all is the issue. When I see images like these, the only thing I wonder is if they're lying on the ground somewhere and their chair rolled away. It's anxiety creating. The same applies to using it to imply accessibility. An empty wheelchair in the middle of a kitchen or bathroom has the same effect.

The picture on the right also has empty wheelchairs and a completely different vibe. The trick is to show an empty chair from face on POV with the location of the empty chair owner known. When a disabled person transfers from their chair, that is the view they have. It creates ownership and a sense of identification.

Activism comes in words and portrayals, where the aim is to change how disabled people are perceived in the world and in media. Activism messages are not normally speaking to the disabled consumer, but are more directed toward the non-disabled community. They can often be summed up with "I don't see you as disabled".

The "I don't see you as disabled" position is a variation of the "victorious disabled person, overcoming their disability" theme. Wrongfully considered noble and welcoming, it's problematic because it removes the life experience of the disabled person, negates the realities of disability and shames the state of disability by virtue of it needing to be unseen. What's intended as a compliment is actually an insult.

The "change how disabled are perceived" concept is also a lofty goal in theory, but often fails in practice, as the aim is to change what already works at the expense of the disabled community, and does the exact opposite by using inappopriate settings, situations and models, changing what was intended to be a spectacular marketing concept into a sad, discordant spectacle.

It's easy to cross that line with good intentions, and the simplest way to avoid doing it is by using established marketing principles. The myth that disabled people want to be spoken to differently to prove a larger point is just that, a myth. If it's "buy this", it's advertising, if it's "think this", it's activism.

A person's disabled equipment is life changing. It's also jaw-droppingly expensive, and probably took years to save for, or convince an insurance adjuster that you really can't find a job if you can't even get to the kitchen because you don't have a wheelchair and your legs don't work. There is an entire industry that exists only by ensuring disabled people never succeed.

Images that show actors smiling and posing in cheap hospital chairs or with thrift shop crutches are damaging to disabled people in a profound way, since most people can't discern the differences in wheelchairs or why there are so many types. That lack of information makes it difficult to get the equipment a person needs to thrive, not just barely survive.

The social impact of this small change, that has literally no additional cost, is immeasurable.

Normalizing modern adaptive equipment in marketing, while shunning damaging staged stock images will help disabled people in all aspects of life.

They're easy to spot when you can see them side by side. The first three are actual disabled people in everyday chairs. The last 3 are mock stock. Some things to look for include the width of the chair itself. Wheelchairs are like ski boots, the tighter the better. Also note the position of the legs, are they tidy with feet together, or all askew and gangly looking? Same with the arm position. Is it down and natural, or sticking out like chicken wings trying to reach past the high sides and wide chair. And note the seat - wheelchair users ALWAYS have a cushion. High backs make it hard to push and rental settings foot rests cause high knees with leg support.