According to the Special Olympics: “The motivation for the campaign was driven by a united passion to promote the positive contributions people with intellectual disabilities make to communities around the world combined with a simple call to action that also symbolizes positive attitude change and a commitment to make the world a more accepting place for all people.”[1] On March 31, 2009 the campaign celebrated the 1st Annual Spread the Word to End the Word National Awareness Day.

Across the country, students of all ages made a pledge to eliminate "retard" from their vocabulary and encourage others to do the same.

In January 2010, the news of the past summer use of "retards" by White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel to describe liberal groups planning attack ads on Democrats was reported in the Wall Street Journal.

[2] This led to Emanuel's apologizing to Tim Shriver, chief executive of the Special Olympics.

A meeting was held with Emanuel, who was asked to visit www.r-word.org, and he promised to take the R-word pledge.