Hands That Sell

At first it looks like just another commercial. Then the young woman on the screen smiles as her fingers begin to move fluidly through the hand signs of the deaf. "Hello," she signals, "I'm Carol McEvoy, an interpreter. I'm using sign language to help those with impaired hearing understand this message from Western Air Lines." As an unseen announcer goes into his voice-over pitch, McEvoy's hands signal the message: "There is stretch-out comfort of first-class leg space at every seat." Scenes of passengers stretching out in flight materialize on a screen just over McEvoy's left shoulder. This word-sign and picture technique continues in the commercial--the first TV promotion aimed at breaking the silence barrier for the deaf.

The commercials are patterned after McEvoy's daily sign language newscast in Los Angeles. She hears normally but learned sign language to communicate with her parents, who are both deaf. The spots have run on stations from Los Angeles to Minneapolis. Says Bert D. Lynn, a Western vice president: "People who have impaired hearing are often elderly folks with the means, time and desire to travel." Besides, judging from the large number of letters that Western has received about the ads, they have made an unexpected impact on viewers with normal hearing.

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