Swipe Right with Stamma this Valentine's Day

National charity  Stamma, working with agency VMLY&R, are making four typographical illustrations available for people to use to share that they have a stammer across dating apps and social media. Available from stamma.org, the four images each state that the individual has a stammer in a way which the charity hopes will encourage individuals to feel more empowered to disclose their stammer. 

Jane Powell, CEO, Stamma, said: “It is up to each person who stammers to decide if they want to disclose their stammer and how they do it but we hope that these illustrated messages will help should they want to do so. We hear concerns from our members that having a stammer is something that should be hidden especially when it comes to dating or making a good first impression and we want to challenge that. These messages might not suit everyone but we hope that they, along with the first-hand stories of love and romance on our website, will give people who stammer and those who don’t, something to consider.”

Responding to a survey by Stamma, 55% of people who stammer said they felt that stammering had had a negative impact on their love life, while 99% had felt ashamed of their stammer at some point. Those answering the survey also reported that their stammer had left them feeling awkward, not listened too, depressed and in some cases, suicidal.

Stamma worked with the agency VMLY&R who engaged illustrators  Al Murphy, Alex Tait, Biff and Dan Woodger on the images. 

Daniel Liakh & Josh Croston, Creative, VMLY&R UK, added: “One of us stammers, the other doesn’t. But, the opportunity to make the world of online dating slightly less stressful and confusing was too good to miss for both of us.”

People who stammer can download all of the images from  stamma.org where they will also be able to read articles about dating, love and romance written by people who stammer.

As part of the campaign, Stamma is also asking individuals to show the charity ‘some love’ by inviting them to sign up to become a member of the charity. The first 100 people who sign up during February will receive a limited edition hard copy card version of one of the illustrations. 

Creative Credits

Agency: VMLY&R

Chief Creative Officer: Laurent Simon

Chairman: Mark Roalfe

Creative: Daniel Liakh, Josh Croston

Account Lead: Elliot Duck

Strategy Lead: Ollie Chakraverty

Senior Producer: Sarah Knight

Illustrators: Al Murphy, Alex Tait, Biff, Dan Woodger

Notes on research:

***Survey Monkey: Feb 2019 - June 2019, 260 responses:

Q2. Do you ever feel ashamed of your stammer? Often 32.31%; Sometimes 35.38%; Rarely 5%; I used to but I no longer feel ashamed of my stammer 26.15%; Never 1.15%.

Q6. Have you ever felt that your having a stammer has had a negative impact on your romantic relationships? Yes - My stammer has definitely had a negative impact on my romantic relationships

30.77%; My stammer used to have a negative impact on my romantic relationships but I do not think it does now 23.85%; No - My stammer has not had a negative impact on my romantic relationships 37.69% N/A 7.69%

Q15. Has the way in which people have reacted to your stammer ever left you feeling in any of the following ways (tick all that apply)? Frustrated 89.23%; Angry 65.38%; Patronised 62.69%; Anxious 65%; Depressed 59.23%; Invisible 41.54%; Not listened to 67.69%; Alone 50.77%; Awkward 78.46%; Suicidal 14.62%; N/A 1.15%.

• ****Yairi E., & Ambrose N. (2013). Epidemiology of stuttering: 21^st century advances. Journal of Fluency Disorders 38 66–87 **Survey Monkey