The Kids Are Not On Fire
Autism

Speech Blubs Review: Harmful Ads, Zero Accountability

Speech Blubs Review: Speech Blubs ad shows on the left side a child drooling onto their lap, with a vacant stare and a grey, blank thought bubble. On the right, there is a smiling, happy child with bright colors, rainbows, butterflies, and flowers. The caption reads "from non-verbal to verbal!"

This is my honest Speech Blubs review.  I have not been compensated for my thoughts. (That’ll be obvious as you read on.)

If you don’t have time to read the full post, here’s a summary of my Speech Blubs review: I’m pretty convinced that Speech Blubs has hired a marketing team of sociopathic, neurotypical adults that sits around and chats like this:

“Okay, who can we bully today?”

“Well, let’s pick something smaller than us.”

“Puppies?”

“No, no, the ASPCA will have our hides.”

“Babies?”

“Meh, better, but they’re often cute and sympathetic.”

“Okay, what about older children?”

“Warmer.  Too broad, though.  We really want them to feel singled out and punished.”

“Disabled kids?”

“BINGO!”

Speech Blubs ads have been really problematic lately.

And that’s putting it lightly.  I posted a previous Speech Blubs review of an offensive ad here.  I wasn’t the only one who called them out.  With all the heat, Speech Blubs issued a noncommittal apology and took down the ad.  I gave them the benefit of the doubt, even noting Speech Blubs’ apology in my previous post.

Then guess what?  Through the magic of the internet, Speech Blubs (1) deleted their apology, (2) ran some more offensive ads on Facebook, and (3) people brought them to my attention.  Thank you, people! 

However, since we were talking about problematic Facebook ads, I initially thought it would be difficult to verify exactly what Speech Blubs was doing.  If I didn’t see the ad with my own eyes, because they didn’t happen to target me and my Facebook account, could I really feel confident in raising the issue?  And, to be honest, the screenshots I saw were so mind-bogglingly offensive that I thought to myself, this can’t be real.

You know how you witness a horrifying event and you think, I’m dreaming, no, I’m hallucinating, no, FAKE NEWS?  That was my first impression of the ad below:

Speech Blubs Review: Speech Blubs ad shows on the left side a child drooling onto their lap, with a vacant stare and a grey, blank thought bubble. On the right, there is a smiling, happy child with bright colors, rainbows, butterflies, and flowers. The caption reads "from non-verbal to verbal!"

I was so disgusted by the Speech Blubs ad I naively thought it could be fake.  I consulted Facebook, I emailed Speech Blubs, I dm’d Speech Blubs on Instagram.  I asked Speech Blubs, “Could you please confirm whether this ad is real or not?”

No response.

And now my honest Speech Blubs review gets more authoritative.  Because I learned that Facebook (and its sister Instagram) lets you review current, active ads for any company here: facebook.com/ads/library

Guess what?  Speech Blubs was no longer running the exact ad I’d seen in a screenshot, but they were running something just as bad, if not worse:

Speech Blubs Review: Speech Blubs ad shows a toddler on the left, drooling on their lap with a vacant expression and blank, gray thought bubble. On the right is a smiling, happy child with a heart on his chest, holding balloons with the words, "cat," "dog," "mama," and "dada." The caption at the top of the ad reads, "Stop learning bad habits...learn new words!"

My gut says I shouldn’t have to explain why these Speech Blub ads are so inherently disgusting and wrong.  My Speech Blubs review should merely include the screenshots, say “all done!” and move on.

But apparently the entire Speech Blubs advertising team let these go out the door.  They saw these Speech Blubs ads and said, “Yup, seems okay to me!”

I guess it’s up to the public to call them out.

Depicting a non-speaking child as a drooling object with a vacant stare and a gray cloud for thoughts is wrong, inaccurate, offensive, and harmful.  My non-speaking daughter is a vibrant little bundle of opinions.  She has many ways to communicate beyond spoken words, and she’s a lot more likely to stare me directly in the eyes and laugh than she is to stare blankly into space.

Here’s my Speech Blubs review: My daughter has thoughts, she has value, she is loved, and your depiction of children like my daughter is so infuriating that I want other parents and caregivers of non-speaking children to be aware before they spend money on your product.

Other Speech Blubs ads are just as bad.  You can read my original post about Speech Blubs’ depiction of a crying, lonely non-verbal child with a red “no” sign on his chest and get a sense for their priorities:

Speech Blubs Review: Speech Blubs ad shows a crying child on the left, alone on a swing, with a red "no" symbol on his chest. On the right, there is a happy, smiling child surrounded by other children, holding a microphone. The caption at the top of the ad reads, "From non-verbal...to first words!"

Speech Blubs review: the company portrays kids who can’t talk as doomed to be sad, lonely, and generally a big “nope” compared to individuals who speak.

Speech Blubs also runs several ads showing a table reserved for “talkers,” with happy, smiling children.   Their message again is clear: it’s okay to segregate children by their ability.  You’re welcome to interact, but only if you can speak out loud. 

Speech Blubs ad shows three toddlers sitting at a table, holding their arms in the air and smiling. There is a colorful banner behind the table that says, "Talkers." One child in a purple shirt with a heart says, "Join us!" Another child in a blue striped shirt and yellow pants says, "Welcome!" The caption at the top of the ad reads, "Is your child still not talking?"
Speech Blubs ad shows three happy children sitting at a table with their arms in the air. Two hearts are drawn between them. The banner behind them reads, "Talkers." One of the children says, "Join us!" A second child says, "Welcome!" All the children have black-and-white bodies, almost like stick figures, with photos of real faces. The caption above reads, "Is your child still not talking?"

Speech Blubs review: the company thinks you must be a “talker” to be included and loved. This message is false, and it’s fully intended to scare parents into buying their product.

In fact, the entire Speech Blubs philosophy could be summed up in this likewise awful ad, which shows a toddler in a dingy onesie looking downwards at an electronic device and compares him unfavorably with a much older, bright-eyed boy who’s looking directly at the camera with his mouth open, apparently mid-speech. “This should be your little one!” they proclaim. I’m sorry, a quiet toddler should be…a different boy entirely?

Speech Blubs Review: Speech Blubs ad shows a small, inset photo of a toddler in a off-white onesie and wispy blond hair looking down at an electronic device. The main photo shows a phone screen, paused on a video, with the still frame showing an older boy with carefully styled blond hair, making eye contact with his mouth wide open, apparently mid-speaking. An arrow from the inset photo to the main photo accompanies the caption, "This should be your little one!"

Speech Blubs review: the company thinks your child “should” be an entirely different human. 

Worst of all, Speech Blubs claims to help kids with disabilities and developmental delays.  But any help they can offer is completely nullified when they repeatedly send out the message that non-speaking individuals are vacant, unclean objects with no thoughts, or sad and lonely misfits with a red “no” sign on their chest, or unwanted at the table with the happy kids. When they imply your child “should” be something other than themselves, because whoever they are just isn’t good enough.

My blog is supposed to humorous.  I like to think that people who are having a tough day can come here and read something lighthearted to cheer them up.  To those people, I apologize for interrupting my intended programming with this Speech Blubs review.  But sometimes companies need to be confronted with whatever platform might be available.  Speech Blubs has ignored thousands of messages.  They have offered a tepid apology only to get right back to their old tricks, preying on the fears of parents while trying to empty their wallets. 

Speech Blubs may pull down these ads tomorrow.  But history has shown they will only be replaced with new, equally offensive if not worse advertisements.  I’ve got the receipts.  As Speech Blubs will hopefully learn, the internet is forever.

Speech Blubs review: consider the company’s values and actions before you buy their app and give them financial support.

I’ve put together a couple videos that you are welcome to share to raise awareness of Speech Blubs’ offensive advertising.  If you see more ads like this, please send screenshots my way and I’ll add them to the litany. Feel free to follow The Kids Are Not On Fire on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, *and now YouTube* for updates.

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