Cadbury Fingers launches ‘Sign with Fingers Big and Small’ campaign

Biscuit brand Cadbury Fingers has launched an integrated campaign as part of its ‘For Fingers Big and Small’ series. ‘Sign with Fingers Big and Small’ encourages people across the nation to learn some British Sign Language (BSL) to help people come together.

Created by VCCP London in partnership with the National Deaf Children’s Society, the campaign highlights the difference BSL can make in helping deaf BSL users feel included in shared moments. It aims to get Brits started with little lessons to learn some everyday phrases and conversation starters in BSL.

The campaign aims to ensure that deaf people do not miss out on shared moments in the future, and celebrates the role of fingers in helping more people come together and be a part of everyday interactions.

The campaign launches with a powerful 30” hero film, directed by Lucy Bridger, and features a deaf teenager who describes in BSL her experience of missing out as a deaf person. As her mother bustles around the kitchen, and places a box of Fingers on the kitchen countertop, the young girl looks directly at the camera and begins signing in BSL, with subtitles appearing underneath her. To highlight the exclusion experienced by deaf people, some of the subtitles are then hidden during the scene by her mother, steam boiling from the kettle, and her younger brother, offering viewers a small glimpse into disrupted interactions she experiences every day. The film ends with a call to action for the nation; ‘Feel like you’ve missed bits? Let’s help more people feel included.’ 

Cadbury Fingers worked with Rebecca A Withey, a deaf writer and consultant, and a co-creation panel made up of people from across the deaf community, to inform the creative approach. The set up of the scene was influenced by ‘Dinner Table Syndrome’ – a phenomenon where deaf people are inadvertently left out of shared everyday conversations. The creative highlights how it’s all too often that someone deaf is missed out; a word they can’t quite lip-read or a joke they’re cut off from.

Alongside the AV, which plays out on VOD, CTV and YouTube, the campaign features little lessons in BSL to help people start to learn everyday sayings in BSL such as “Fancy a cuppa?” or “Having a good day?”, alongside other regular conversational topics such as “Typical British weather isn’t it” and “What a goal!” to help kickstart people’s BSL learning journey. Illustrated animations of these phrases will feature in DOOH, on YouTube and in social activity on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

Following the AV launch, the campaign will see OOH, digital, social, influencer and partnership activations go live. The campaign runs until 31 October.

“Cadbury Fingers are the much loved chocolate biscuits made for sharing and we’re on a mission to ensure no one misses out on those everyday shared moments like enjoying a cuppa or an afternoon biscuit with friends and family,” said Susanne Nowak, Senior Brand Manager at Cadbury Biscuits. “Helping people learn some British Sign Language (BSL) will play a really important role in helping deaf BSL users feel included, and while BSL involves much more than just the use of hands, fingers are a fundamental part of signing. We’re immensely proud of our new campaign and hope it will encourage the nation to learn a little bit of sign language to ensure everyone feels included.”