Keep Britain Tidy joins Clear Channel's 'Different minds, better outcomes' neurodiversity campaign

Keep Britain Tidy is proud to be part of an industry-first initiative to make out-of-home advertising campaigns more neurodivergent-friendly.

‘Different minds, better outcomes’, which goes live today, will see hundreds of Clear Channel digital advertising screens across the country feature ads from Keep Britain Tidy and other participating organisations and businesses that have been produced or adapted to be neurodivergent-friendly.

It is estimated that about 20% of the UK population is neurodivergent, a term that encompasses autism, ADHD, ADD, dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia. The campaign aims to start a conversation and inspire change within the advertising industry towards being more accessible to neurodiverse people.

A range of techniques have been used in the ads including simplifying artwork, increasing colour contrast, using fonts without capitalisations or serifs to make them more dyslexia-friendly or using CamelCase (a way to separate the words in a phrase by making the first letter of each word capitalised) in hashtags to make them easier to read. 

Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Chief Executive of Keep Britain Tidy said: “As a charity, we recognise just how important it is that our work and our message is accessible to all, including those who are neurodivergent, and that is why we are proud to be part of this initiative.”

Keep Britain Tidy’s bespoke creative carries a simple message ‘The environment belongs to everyone’, recognising that we all have a right to a clean, safe environment and we all have a role to play in protecting and improving it. It features the charity’s iconic logo but instead of putting litter in a bin the character is carrying an umbrella to symbolise inclusivity.

Even the charity’s brand name, which is usually written in all capital letters, has been adapted for the campaign.

Clear Channel UK is one of the UK’s leading Out of Home (OOH) advertising and infrastructure companies and launched the neurodiversity awareness initiative in collaboration with household names and charity partners, including Keep Britain Tidy, Heineken, Arla, & LeoReader - a free e-reader tool designed to support neurodiverse individuals in the creative industry.

Ben Hope, Marketing Director at Clear Channel UK said: “The unique nature of Out of Home as a public medium, reaching 97% of the UK population, means we have a collective responsibility to ensure it’s as accessible as possible to all, through our operations and outputs, that includes the advertising.

The initiative is part of the ADHD Foundation’s Neurodiversity Umbrella Project, which is a campaign that aims to change the perception of neurodiverse individuals and celebrate the many strengths that come from thinking differently.

Every piece of content developed as part of the Clear Channel initiative will include an umbrella symbol to identify that the content has been designed with neurodivergent individuals in mind. 

Dr Tony Lloyd, CEO of The ADHD Foundation said: “More and more we’re seeing society change how it views neurodiversity. Creating communications and campaigns that are accessible for neurodivergent minds is instrumental part of becoming a more inclusive society.”

The initiative will run from June 15th to June 18th 2023.