The Amazing Sound of Super Bowl Silence

When the Super Bowl pre-game show goes silent for a full 60 seconds this Sunday, millions of people are going know what it's like to be deaf. During the Fox network's pre-game show, PepsiCo, my employer, is running a completely silent commercial, starring deaf employees and filmed in American Sign Language (with captioning so everyone can understand it). If you're not deaf, you probably can't imagine what a big deal this is for people who are. For me, being involved in creating the commercial has, in a way, brought me full circle.

I am not deaf, nor are my siblings, but both my parents are. For my entire life, I've been straddling the deaf and hearing worlds. It's an experience that most people never get to have. It's an interesting, sometimes funny place to be, but it hasn't always been easy to navigate, especially when I was growing up.

You might think that our house offered a quiet environment, but my parents were very loud! Just because my dad is deaf doesn't mean that he won't stand up and hoot and holler when the ref makes a call against his beloved Dallas Cowboys. When I was a little kid, during the fantastic Tom Landry-Roger Staubach era, he used to invite a bunch of his deaf friends over to watch the games. There they would sit, signing to one another in silence, then they would yell at the screen like any other bunch of sports fans.

When I got a bit older, I didn't want to sign at all. It was embarrassing. When we were out in public, people would stare at us. My friends would ask ridiculous questions. If there was a parents' night at school, I wouldn't tell my folks so I wouldn't have to be seen with them -- or sign with them.

I left all that confusion behind years ago, and today, I'm proud to know that I can use my hands instead of my voice to communicate. So that's me you see at the start of the PepsiCo commercial. I'm the one signing away to explain how this groundbreaking commercial came to be. And I'm so proud to be in it. Not just for my parents, who are thrilled, of course, but because of what I hope the commercial will do: bridge that gap between the hearing and deaf worlds, like I've been doing all my life.

I first heard about the ad from Clay Broussard, my colleague at PepsiCo, who dreamed it up. He isn't deaf, either, but he knew a lot about the deaf community from his church. He knew my parents were deaf, and he wanted my opinion.

His concept was clever. It's based on a well-known joke in the deaf community. In the commercial, you see two friends (played by PepsiCo employees Brian Dowling and Darren Therriault, who are deaf) driving down a street, looking for their friend Bob's house, where they're going to watch a football game. All the houses are dark, with no porch lights or inside lights on. In sign language, the two friends blame each other for not knowing which house is Bob's. Then the driver gets an idea: he honks his horn loudly as he drives down the block. The lights in all the houses start to come on--except one. That would be Bob's house, where the horn blasts can't be heard.

Clay, who plays Bob in the commercial, asked me to talk to my parents and get their feedback. (They loved the idea.) Then I helped him introduce it at several diversity and inclusion fairs that PepsiCo held in Dallas. He pulled together a group of colleagues to write a script, and filmed a demo starring themselves. Word got around about the tape. It took 18 months, but when senior managers finally saw it, they were blown away -- and the rest, as they say, is Super Bowl history. PepsiCo also talked with the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) to make sure the approach was right.

People today are certainly a lot more understanding about deaf people and respectful of sign language. But the divide is still there, and deaf people still struggle in a hearing world. Darren, one of the actors, told me that he still has trouble knowing when to board an airplane, even after asking for help from the counter agents. In many airports, there's no way to know that it's time to board unless you can hear an announcement.

For me, "Bob's House" is a triple win: a touchdown, a field goal and then some. It shows me that the company I work for truly cares about having a diverse workforce and that it's open enough to take an idea that came from a group of employees -- employees with different abilities, no less -- and literally share it with the entire world. Second, it gives me the chance to put my experience in both the hearing and deaf worlds to good use. And we're all hoping that the silence on Super Bowl Sunday will open up a lot of people's ears and minds and hearts--even if it's just for a minute--to what life is like when you're deaf.

Watch "Bob's House" here.

Comments

[politicalreacharound]

This will be a great ad. I can't wait to see it. Just like Sheri both of my parents are deaf. I am not surprised that the deaf people consulted liked the commercial. Most deaf people have a great sense of humor.

[Counterglow]

I'll never forget when a bunch of deaf people were in town for a convention. I saw one guy sign a joke to another across a small park and four lanes of traffic.

It certainly brought the whole idea of what constitutes a disability into focus.

[RepublicanBrain]

I think PepsiCo's ad is very bold. Not being deaf, I doubt it will have the impact you're looking for on me. However, I am a Super Bowl commercial (though not the game) fan. And this type of ad is the thing I look at. It's original, different, and clever.

Bravo to your friend for dreaming it up.