Watch an entire town surprise their deaf neighbor by learning sign language

By Hyacinth Mascarenhas

Muharrem is not used to being able to communicate with everyone around him.

As a young hearing-impaired man in Istanbul, Turkey, ordinary encounters that we often take for granted become a daily struggle for him, since not everyone around him knows sign language.

To promote their video call center for people with hearing problems, Samsung Turkey and the Leo Burnett ad firm organized a heart-warming stunt for an ad campaign that is sure to tug on your heart strings.

The ad took one month of preparation with cameras set up around the neighborhood and the entire town taking sign language lessons to give him a truly special and memorable day.

Titled “Hearing Hands,” the spot begins with Muharrem taking a walk with his sister Özlem down the streets of Bagcilar, a district in Istanbul. As they go about their daily routine, Muharrem is confused yet pleasantly surprised to see strangers around him using sign language to communicate with him.

When a man uses sign language to say, “Good morning,” Muharrem was so taken aback by the simple interaction that he actually turns to look back at the man.

After one man strategically drops a bag of apples in their path which they help pick up, he signs that he’d like to offer them an apple each as thanks. Perplexed, Muharrem asks his sister if she knows the stranger and if he too, is hearing impaired.

From the man behind the counter at a local bagel shop to the cab driver, Muharrem becomes increasingly puzzled by the social interaction he is not used to receiving.

The cab driver finally takes the duo to a public square for Samsung’s big reveal.

A digital kiosk displaying a signing Samsung rep for the new Samsungduyaneller.com video call center finally reveals how and why his “chance” encounters took place.