This campaign for Down Syndrome wants to challenge your assumptions

This World Down Syndrome Day, CoorDown - the national coordination of associations of people with Down Syndrome - in partnership with the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS), has launched a global campaign to get people to put an end to prejudice and to support the potential of each person who has Down Syndrome.  

The campaign, titled "Assume I can", features a one-and-a-half-minute long film starring actress and model Madison Tevlin as she speaks candidly about the stereotypical ways the world sees her. 

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“Hey bartender, you assume that I can’t drink a margarita so you don’t serve me a margarita, so I don’t drink a margarita,” Tevlin said in the ad, as a bartender places a soda down on the bar in front of her. “Your assumption becomes reality.”

The film later showed clips of other negative assumptions her parents, coach and teacher have about her such as the inability to live alone, to train hard at a sport and to read Shakespeare. 

“But hey — if your assumptions become reality,” Tevlin said, “then assume that I can drink a margarita, so you serve me a margarita, so I drink a margarita." 

Viewers are later shown Tevlin living on her own, training hard and reading poetry from Shakespeare. She also mentioned that she can go to parties and have sex amongst many other things that people assume people with Down Syndrome cannot do. 

The film ends with the campaign tag "Assume that I can, so maybe I will" as Tevlin stands amongst others who also have Down Syndrome. 

"'Assume that I can's powerful message went far beyond the boundaries of Down Syndrome, and even beyond disability in general. This time the message became universal and touched everyone, realizing how assumptions can affect everyone in every aspect of life. So why not try a paradigm shift?," said Martina Fuga, head of communications, CoorDown when MARKETING-INTERACTIVE reached out. 

"Our negative assumptions about people with Down Syndrome can lead us to treat them in such a way that these assumptions become reality. In sociology, this is called a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’. Why not reverse our perspectives?" said CoorDown in a statement.

"If we have positive assumptions about people with Down Syndrome, we'll give them more opportunities in their schools, workplaces, relationships and activities. And maybe these positive assumptions will become reality." 

"Assume I can" was done in collaboration with New York creative agency, SMALL and was produced by Indiana Production.

"We have been working with CoorDown for 12 years, but we have never seen results like these. Some people love the message, others the execution, and some love both. Clearly, this film speaks about something that people needed and wanted to hear, and that's why they decide to share it," said Luca Lorenzini, co-founder and ECD of SMALL when MARKETING-INTERACTIVE reached out. 

The film will run on CoorDown's channels and will be distributed on all of NDSS' platforms. 

The international campaign started with CoorDown in Italy and is supported by several international associations that are simultaneously launching the film worldwide. 

Some of the associations include Canadian Down Syndrome Society, National Down Syndrome Society, Global Down Syndrome Foundation, Down's Syndrome Association UK, Down Syndrome Australia, and New Zealand Down Syndrome Association with the participation of members of the Fundació Catalana Síndrome de Down.

In addition to the "Assume I can" campaign featuring Tevlin, CoorDown, NDSS and its international partners will broadcast the real experiences of people with Down Syndrome and their families from all of the world.

The people featured will also share examples of the types of stereotypes they've experienced and the biases they've overcome. These will come in the form of a social media video series. 

World Down Syndrome Day comes just days after International Women's Day, where brands have taken the opportunity to uplift women in a series of campaigns and initiatives. 

One such example is ice cream brand Häagen-Dazs, who rolled out a series of initiatives to support women-centric charities across Asia and Europe this year.   

As part of the campaign, Häagen-Dazs gave its support to women-centric charities in Taiwan by donating TWD$10 from each limited-edition Rose Project minicup collection sold in retailers nationwide, to The Awakening Foundation to support the organisation and its mission.  

In India, a portion of Häagen-Dazs Shops proceeds from the month of March will be donated to BAIF to help support the livelihood of families headed by single women.  

While in the UK, a limited-edition Rose Project Vanilla pint sold exclusively in Sainsbury’s will donate 50p per pint produced to The Prince’s Trust Change a Girl’s Life campaign with a committed pledge of £20,000. 

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