While Passatempo prints letters in Brazilian Sign Language directly onto cookies, Cadbury was inspired by its biscuit's name to create an online campaign: Sign With Fingers Big & Small. A microsite features brief video lessons that show how to sign simple phrases like "Are you a gamer?" and "Where are you from?"
Cadbury partnered with the National Deaf Children's Society to develop the initiative and states: "When you're deaf, you often feel left out of the conversation. But if more of us learned some British Sign Language, we could change that."
Sign language is surging in popularity among those who can hear. That interest was spurred partly by the increased visibility of interpreters during pandemic press conferences and also by easily accessible tutorials and communities on YouTube and TikTok. Brand campaigns may not lead to fluency, but they can spark curiosity among a wider audience and kickstart a learning process. And the more people acquire signing skills, the more equitable society becomes.
