15456: White Women In Adland Proclaim, “And Still I Rise.”

Advertising Age published a lengthy fluff piece on the ever-accelerating White women’s bandwagon, noting the spike in White women hired to leadership roles in recent years. Of course, the article provided opportunities for self-promotional pontification from Kat Gordon and Cindy Gallop—along with other culturally clueless cretins. Despite the hype, most would grudgingly admit that women of color have not experienced similar gains with their Caucasian “sisters”—except via Chief Diversity Officer positions, which are widely acknowledged as having limited respect and authority. In an anti-racist moment agitated by the George Floyd killing, the “minority” group most benefiting from Affirmative Action initiatives continues to be White women. Advertising Age asked, “Women are rising at agencies, but is it enough?” Well, for White women, it’s arguably more than enough. For women of color—and all non-White people—it’s more of the same.

 

Women Are Rising At Agencies, But Is It Enough?

 

Surge of female leadership isn’t coincidental, but questions remain whether it should even be a point of discussion

 

By Brian Bonilla

 

TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles has promoted Erin Riley, formerly its president as its first CEO and elevated Jen Costello to chief strategy officer from her previous role as head of strategy. In their roles, they will continue to drive TBWA’s change agenda around its Disruption X methodology, which was created last year as the agency continues to invest in enhancing and modernizing its strategic and creative capabilities.

 

The moves, which are being announced today, follow a sudden string of women appointments to senior roles at agencies within the last three months alone.

 

Last week, Pereira O’Dell promoted Mona Gonzalez and Natalie Nymark to presidents of the agency—new roles for the bicoastal shop. Publicis appointed Sarah Kramer to CEO of Spark Foundry in the U.S. and Danielle Gonzales to the newly created role of chief client officer of Publicis Media. Early this month, Giant Spoon tapped Christina DeGuardi as president and chief client officer and named Nikita Malhotra chief financial officer and chief operating officer.

 

Then in May, ex-Saatchi & Saatchi veteran, Andrea Diquez was poached to become CEO of DDB Chicago, and Darla Price was named president of DDB New York. Earlier that month, GroupM’s media company Xaxis named Silvia Sparry as its first global chief operating officer. The month prior to that, Dentsu hired Kedma Pognon Brown as its chief operating officer for its Americas media service line and Nancy Reyes was elevated to CEO of TBWA\Chiat\Day New York. Also in April, Edelman named Lisa Osborne Ross as its U.S. CEO making her the first Black woman to lead a PR firm of its size.

 

Is this a long overdue recognition of women’s leadership capabilities or simply a step toward normalization in the industry that should have already existed? Some industry insiders say it’s a mix of both, and it’s not enough—there is still a need more women in the industry and diversity beyond gender. Others argue that calling out the number of women in senior roles actually sets the movement back rather than advances it.

 

“Women are 52% of the population, so it amazes me to think that there are people that feel like they’re trying something bold,” says Kat Gordon, CEO of the 3% Movement. “This is just a natural evolution of how the world should be. Sometimes I’ll meet agencies and they’ll very proudly stand up at our event and say, ‘We have all women in our creative department or we’re 90% women’ and I’ll say, ‘That’s the exact same problem in different clothes.’ We want a really beautiful mix, of all kinds of men and women to be represented, at the appropriate levels and ratios.”

 

But there seems to be consensus on one thing: the recent elevation of women isn’t coincidental.

 

“I’ve done this for 15 years and there is certainly a greater onus now on bringing in female leadership than there ever has been before,” says Jay Haines, founder of executive search firm Grace Blue. “This was a trend that began to emerge probably three or four years ago and then really came to fall two years ago. Now whenever we take on a new leadership search, a big part of the mandate is to ensure that whenever we come back to clients there is a diverse slate of candidates by every metric.”

 

The increased representation of women in the industry is a welcome change that has been picking up speed. An October 2020 report from She Runs It and Diversity Best Practices showed that 45.4% of executive positions at advertising, media, and tech companies are now held by women, jumping from 29% the previous year.

 

TBWA, has made a thoughtful commitment to increasing the number of women in leadership positions globally by 20% by the end of 2020. When its “Take the Lead” program was introduced in 2015, the company was gender-balanced in entry-level and mid-level roles, but had a long way to go with its senior positions. By the end of 2020, the agency nearly met its goal, having increased the number of women in leadership by 19.4%, with 43.7% of senior leadership identifying as women globally and 48.6% of senior leadership identifying as women in North America.

 

Women now lead all of TBWA’s agencies in North America, including TBWA\Chiat\Day New York (Nancy Reyes, CEO); Juniper Park\TBWA (Jill Nykolation, CEO) and Katrien De Bauw (global president, TBWA\Media Arts Lab, based in L.A).

 

Fishing from the same pond

 

“No one’s getting these jobs because they’re either diverse or because they’re women, it’s because they’re fantastic leaders,” says Troy Ruhanen, president and CEO of TBWA/Worldwide. “If someone asks, ‘How did you get to this point?’ the trick is we just looked a lot harder and earlier than you. I met Erin and Nancy probably about 10 years before I hired them. So, I’ve had them in my mind for some time. Fishing from the same pond was getting us a whole bunch of the same type of leaders. I’m not saying men aren’t great leaders. There are a whole bunch of great white male leaders as well. We were just getting the same repeated message every single time and that’s not a very creative company if you ask me.”

 

This sentiment rang true for Riley when she was interviewing for a role with TBWA in 2016.

 

“I remember when I was interviewing, I told Troy, I appreciate, what you’re doing, but I want to make sure that you’re hiring me for my background and skills and not because you need to put a woman in this role,” Riley says. “And he said, ‘Let me assure you, the reason I’m hiring so many women leaders is because I think they make the best change agents.’”

 

Cindy Gallop, a former chairman of BBH and founder of Make Love Not Porn and If We Ran the World, says this progress is due to a change in mindset among “white male leaders” that are proactively looking to hire women. She doesn’t care about the motivation behind more women being hired for senior roles because as long as it continues it will ensure more diverse hires across the industry moving forward.

 

“One thing that every white male leader should think about is when you look for brilliant female leaders, you should not be looking for the same criteria as male leaders in a woman,” Gallop says. “If you say, ‘We want someone who delivers all that same, good old boys’ stuff, but female,’ that doesn’t work. Secondly, if you truly want brilliant women leading your creative development or leading your agency you need to hire for potential not proof. Find the brilliant woman in waiting somewhere that has not been promoted because there’s a white male global chief creative officer who feels threatened by her.”

 

Despite the progress made there are still hurdles for women in the industry that agencies need to be proactive about says Gordon. In 2018 3% launched the “Pledge for Pay Equity” dedicated to driving momentum for closing the pay gap between men and women in the industry, which Haines says has been closing and will continue to improve as time goes on. Founding agencies of the pledge include agencies like BBH, FCB, Doner, Deutsch, Havas, and The Martin Agency.

 

Clearing the way

 

Gordon says “women are slowly being paid more equitably and that is, in large part, due to companies who undergo wage audits. Even well-meaning leadership that believes there is no discrepancy in wages are often surprised there are when they conduct an assessment.”

 

Beyond the pay gap, Gordon believes agencies need to be proactive around their sexual harassment policies, specifically eliminating non-disclosure agreements when an employee is either bringing a claim against a company or leaving an agency under circumstances where employees felt they were treated unfairly. Other issues that need to be addressed include maternity leave and the diversity of women being hired during this movement.

 

“Increasingly I think it’s important that maternity leave be called family leave and that its extended to men as well,” Gordon says “Until we make childcare a shared issue and not just a women’s issue, women will continue to be penalized for it. We also need to ensure that the women leading in this new kind of surge are all women, not just white women. Black women are the most educated demographic in America right now with the highest state of desire to lead.”

 

In their new roles, Riley and Costello will also continue their focus on DE&I efforts at Chiat\Day LA. Under their leadership, the office has increased diversity across all levels and departments, with 64% of its new hires in 2021 coming from diverse backgrounds, according to a statement by TBWA.

 

“I think the thing not to miss is that the end game isn’t about having more women in leadership roles,” Costello says. “It’s about having more amazing strong leaders that come from different places, because that is what makes business tick and change, and move the way that it needs to.”

15252: Anti-Social Media From Cindy Gallop.

Oh, look! Cindy Gallop is still promoting herself as a divertsity diva, spanking the advertising industry for erecting heat shields in lieu of actually hiring, championing, promoting and paying non-Whites. Yet back in the day, when Gallop had the authority, who did she ever HIRE? CHAMPION? PROMOTE? PAY…? Cue the chirping crickets. It’s also not surprising that Gallop’s recent LinkedIn gobbledygook features more posts highlighting her dining and drinks versus diversity.

15129: That ‘80s Show Starring Mark Read And Cindy Gallop.

 

 

 

More About Advertising extended the coverage, commentary and cultural cluelessness inspired by WPP CEO Mark Read uttering an ageist remark. To recap, when an analyst asked if WPP has the right balance of staffers skilled in TV and digital, Read replied, “We have a very broad range of skills, and if you look at our people—the average age of someone who works at WPP is less than 30—they don’t hark back to the 1980s, luckily.” Now Read is taking heat from a true 1980s classic—Cindy Gallop—who tweeted, “The reason our industry is ageist as fuck is because the older white men who run it (and bizarrely don’t seem to think that #ageism applies to them in any way) fetishize youth.” Gallop should know, as she has repeatedly expressed her fetish for fucking dating youthful men.

15033: Industry Voices Tweet In Style On Racism.

Adweek spotlighted industry opinions regarding the responses—or lack of responses—from White advertising agencies to the racism-rooted events roiling the nation. Derek Walker tweeted his perspectives in his spirited style. Meanwhile, Cindy Gallop jumped on the bandwagon in her opportunistic style—hey, where was her bravado back in the day when she actually had hiring authority? Cue chirping crickets.

15022: Cindy Gallop Profits From Pandemic And Pornography.

Campaign published a video interview with Cindy Gallop, who hawked her MakeLoveNotPorn site—indirectly inspired by her personal fetish of fornicating with significantly younger partners. The site has apparently experienced an orgasmic spike in visitors during the COVID-19 crisis, presenting another example of pseudo industry leaders capitalizing on a global pandemic. It’s also another example of Gallop’s annoying hypocrisy. After all, if any adman publicly flaunted their sexual exploits and promoted pornography, his immediate—and rightful—expulsion from the field would come via demands by screeching banshees like Gallop.

Cindy Gallop on MakeLoveNotPorn’s revamped site, the need for braver brands and more

By Lindsay Stein

The well-known industry veteran shares insights for agencies, brands and young people.

Tech entrepreneur, former BBH exec, diversity and inclusion activist, TED Talk speaker, the self-proclaimed “Michael Bay of business.”

Cindy Gallop’s career has many highlights, but one aspect she’s particularly passionate about is her work on sex positive education through MakeLoveNotPorn, which she founded over a decade ago.

MLNP—a site where people can express themselves through social sex in a safe space—just went through a refresh. And the timing is perfect since Gallop said she’s seen a 33 percent increase in daily users over the last four weeks of self-quarantining, as well as a 20 percent jump in revenue.

In addition to sharing the ins and outs of the revamped site, Gallop joins Campaign US on Pillow Talk to chat through how brands can be bolder with their advertising, why gender and diversity issues should improve in the aftermath of COVID-19 and much more.

The Campaign article included a painfully pathetic video featuring Gallop’s self-promotional pap.

14979: COVID-19 Poses A Grave Threat To White Women—But Only In Adland.

The crappy, contrived, clichéd COVID-19 Themed Ads collection has leapfrogged the International White Women’s Ads collection. Look for Cindy Gallop to declare the coronavirus represents the single biggest business issue in the industry.

14970: April Fools On Zoom Calls Via Adweek.

Adweek staged an April Fools’ Day stunt whereby “Rising Ad Talents” connected via unexpected Zoom calls with “Industry VIPs”—including Gary Vaynerchuk, Fernando Machado, Isaiah Mustafa, Wendy Clark and Cindy Gallop. Um, why would anyone label Clark and Gallop as VIPs? Fools, yes—on April 1 and every day of the year.

14866: Pitbull Act Moves From Advertising Week To Advertising Weak Mobile Services.

Hey, why aren’t the divertsity defenders barking about this Boost Mobile commercial starring Pitbull lusting after chickenheads? Plus, it’s a wonder Cindy Gallop didn’t point out the phallic nature of the light switch mnemonic device.

14858: Cindy Gallop Getting Off On Being Obscene Is A Turnoff.

Advertising Age observed that Cindy Gallop thinks the Businessweek cover image depicted above looks like a Fleshlight. This is not surprising at all. The old woman clearly has more familiarity with such devices than she does with the modern advertising industry. She’d be quick to bitch and moan, however, if an adman had publicly made a similar observation.

We’re Not Commenting On This Vaguely Disturbing Bloomberg Businessweek Cover (But Cindy Gallop Did)

No, this is not a product from Interactive Life Forms

By Ad Age and Creativity Staff

The Dec. 16 Bloomberg Businessweek cover has been out for a bit—it was released on social media late last week, collecting a few WTF-type comments along the way—and we weren’t going to say what we at first thought it was meant to depict.

But then ad-industry icon and Make Love Not Porn founder Cindy Gallop just went right ahead, on Twitter, last night:

A Fleshlight, for the uninitiated, is a masturbation device. It’s the best-selling and arguably the best-marketed such device in history, along with its sibling product, the Fleshjack, for gay men. Both the Fleshlight and Fleshjack deploy so-called Fleshlight Girls and Fleshjack Boys—which are basically endorsement deals with major porn stars, whose relevant body parts are apparently plaster-cast molded and recreated in orifice-in-a-can form to be sold to, uh, enthusiasts for $79.95. The Fleshlight and Fleshjack are canister-like and uncap (to expose the flesh-colored thing inside), just like the device shown on Bloomberg Businessweek’s cover.

In case you were wondering, Interactive Life Forms (ILF), the Austin, Texas-based maker of Fleshlights and Fleshjacks, does not have an endorsement deal with Amazon’s digital assistant, Alexa—who is not a porn star and also has no actual body parts to plaster-cast. Not even an ear, which is what that thing in Bloomberg Businessweek’s canister (an Amazon Echo device) is actually supposed to be.

In September, Vice (of course) called the Fleshlight “ubiquitous” in a story headlined “The Fleshlight Is a Portal to the Future of Sex,” which notes that ILF has sold more than 15 million Fleshlights/Fleshjacks since the company launched more than 20 years ago.

Incidentally, Bloomberg Businessweek’s cover story, “Silicon Valley Is Listening to Your Most Intimate Moments,” will make you realize that if you do own a Fleshlight or Fleshjack, you should maybe unplug Alexa before using it.

14855: ¡Ay, Caramba! David Miami Boosts Mucho Divertsity By Hiring White Women.

Adweek reported David Miami hired two White women—so shut up already, Cindy Gallop. Guess even Latino shops are jumping on the White women bandwagon.

14840: The Single Biggest Bedtime Issue…?

Maybe somebody messed up the translation for this campaign from Sweden, but given all the focus on the single biggest business issue facing the advertising industry in the US, UK and globally, surely there’s a better verb than harass for selling mattresses.

14811: Celebrating In India Is Not Always Fun And Games For Everyone.

This campaign implores people from India to celebrate Diwali responsibly and with sensitivity to animal welfare. People from India have also been encouraged to stop sexually assaulting women during Holi celebrations. Why, even Cindy Gallop has chastised the citizenry of India over sexual harassment in advertising agencies. It’s only a matter of time before party pooper Gallop rides to the rescue for animal rights in India too.

14802: More Collateral Damage—And Dumbness—From The Ted Royer TED Talk.

Advertising Age published a divertorial by BETC Senior Art Director Lauren Haberfield, who whined about the recent Ted Royer LIA-liar spectacle and ultimately demonstrated that art directors should not handle copy. Haberfield offered no original commentary or provocative perspectives, opting to regurgitate the obvious in clichéd fashion. She did manage, however, to make a few ignorant comments.

For example, Haberfield sniffed, “Once again, a woman’s right to be offended was completely overruled by a man’s right to be heard.” Okay, except Royer’s presentation was arranged and approved by LIA President and Founder Barbara Levy—so maybe Haberfield should direct her offense at the White woman responsible for the mess.

Keep in mind, Levy took a swipe at Diet Madison Avenue when remarking, “I do not believe that an anonymous social media platform that does not allow the accused to respond should be allowed to indict, try and convict anyone.” Okay, but DMA did not indict, try and convict Royer. The ex-CCO underwent an investigation conducted by Droga5, which resulted in the White advertising agency deciding to terminate the man. Yeah, the DMA vigilantes posted arguably slanderous indictments—for which they deserve whatever legal judgments might inevitably be leveled against them—but the trial and conviction of Royer belongs to Droga5.

Haberfield displayed naiveté and stupidity by stating, “As an attendee of Creative LIAisons, I want to vouch for what an important opportunity this event is for young creatives.” Um, award shows such as LIA are a root cause of the overall problem. That is, trophies fuel the pseudo rock star status bestowed upon alleged pigs like Royer.

Haberfield also declared, “This isn’t about one incident or one man. It’s about how ignorant, how careless, the industry still is about facing what is happening inside agencies. Sexual harassment and assault are not things of the past. Managers continue to cover it up or keep it hidden. And people in power still abuse that power and manipulate those without it.” Wow, that’s a pretty sweeping condemnation. Does Haberfield view JWT London Creative Director Jo Wallace as a mentor and role model? Is she a junior Cindy Gallop, ready to brand Royer as representing the single biggest business issue in adland?

Finally, Haberfield seems oblivious to the reality that White women have been co-conspirators with White men in maintaining the exclusivity in the field. It’s not inappropriate or inaccurate to say the two groups have literally and figuratively been in bed with each other for a long time.

Is time really up on sexual misconduct in our industry?

By Lauren Haberfield

The second that ex-Droga5 chief creative officer Ted Royer stepped out to make his first public appearance since the allegations of sexual misconduct and his subsequent firing in 2018, it became shockingly apparent just how little progress the advertising industry has made in addressing the MeToo epidemic.

His audience? Not his peers, nor the press, nor established industry leaders, but the very type of women who are typically targeted by powerful men like him: young creatives who are building their careers.

The talk had little to do with creativity or the purpose of the conference—Creative LIAisons, the LIA awards event for creatives under age 30. Royer was unlisted in the program, leaving the audience little choice but to listen to what became an open, undebated space for him to deny accusations. One by one, he denounced testimonies posted on Instagram account Diet Madison Avenue, saying they were fabricated.

Once again, a woman’s right to be offended was completely overruled by a man’s right to be heard.

Royer’s surprise appearance followed award-winning journalist Lara Logan’s talk on empathy. The message was far from subtle: his placement, directly after, practically screamed “give him the benefit of the doubt.”

When alleged sexual assault victims tell their stories, wouldn’t it be nice if they, too, were preceded by an emphatic talk on the importance of believing them?

There is no question that a person should have a right to tell their story. But in a world that actually needs an “I believe her” hashtag, taking stories from victims and using them to claim innocence in any context other than a court of law comes across as insensitive at best, violence at worst: it is part of what fuels a culture that is more inclined to blame the assaulted than the predator.

Multiple people left the room during Royer’s talk.

The session closed with Royer offering to take questions. Never mind that the Creative LIAisons’ organizers let an alleged sexual harasser address a room of young creatives in the first place; a properly managed Q&A could have been an opportunity to even out the conversation.

Let’s be honest … speaking out against harassment, even in this type of forum, doesn’t always end well. And to a room full of young professionals, eager to advance their careers—who may not even have enough power to speak their minds to their bosses, let alone question one of the (former) most powerful men in our industry—no matter how open and willing Royer appeared to be, it only amplified how inappropriate this context was for his first public appearance.

But more tone-deaf than the talk itself was the way it was handled after.

Barbara Levy, the head of the LIA awards, issued an apology but went on, in her words, to ‘warn’ attendees that a sexual assault victim would speak in the afternoon. That talk was ultimately canceled, but the warning’s implication was disconcerting. It was as if she believed people would feel just as uncomfortable about hearing a victim’s perspective as they rightly did by an alleged offender’s.

As an attendee of Creative LIAisons, I want to vouch for what an important opportunity this event is for young creatives. The LIA awards made mistakes, but these were symptoms of a bigger issue, not the problem.

This isn’t about one incident or one man. It’s about how ignorant, how careless, the industry still is about facing what is happening inside agencies. Sexual harassment and assault are not things of the past. Managers continue to cover it up or keep it hidden. And people in power still abuse that power and manipulate those without it.

The conversation around women and sexual harassment in the workplace may have changed, but the abuse of power has not. #TimesUp on pretending it has.

14772: At Advertising Week, PitBull Inspired Bullshit From Buttholes.

Advertising Age reported on the hypocritical outrage from White advertising agency executives feigning disdain over Pitbull performing at Advertising Week. Seems the headline act featured imagery like the photograph above, which countered all the divertsity and divertisements pushed throughout the week-long exclusivity. Of course, Cindy Gallop couldn’t let the self-absorbed opportunity pass without sputtering, “In an industry that sells first and foremost to female consumers, but continues to be male-dominated and massively power-imbalanced when it comes to women … and to talk gender equality, diversity and inclusion but spectacularly fail to deliver on it, it is wholly inappropriate to feature a closing Advertising Week musical act that objectifies women.” Okay, but Gallop is often presenting herself with imagery like the photograph below. Gallop pontificating against objectification is the equivalent of a Grand Wizard promoting Black Lives Matter. Finally, it must be noted that soirees such as Advertising Week are always falsely advocating for diversity—and compensating by hiring hip-hop artists of color to provide entertainment.

Advertising Week’s Pitbull Concert Undermines A Week Of Equality Talk, Say Critics

Industry professionals say Pitbull’s performance did not mix with all the talk of gender parity

By Ilyse Liffreing

In an industry that has long battled sexism, Advertising Week made a concerted effort in its programming this week to address issues of equality and parity. There was an entire track Thursday called “Future is Female,” with seminars titled “Fighting Bias” and “The Business Case for Female Inclusion.” Another track on Monday was devoted to “Diversity and Inclusion.”

So many industry execs were surprised and even disappointed with Advertising Week’s choice of selecting Pitbull as the headline act on the closing night of the event.

The audience at the packed concert venue at Webster Hall on Thursday night might have enjoyed the flashy spectacle (and open bar), but stepping back from the glitz and confetti, advertising industry professionals are saying Advertising Week was a bit tone deaf, and lacked introspection. Pitbull, flanked by backup dancers wearing sparkly red thong one-pieces, performed choreography full of booty-spanking and objectifying gestures. Many say it was a performance at odds with the many of the conference’s panels in the days leading up.

“Advertising industry closes week of diversity and equality panels with an empowering display of twerking and booty-slapping,” wrote Matt MacDonald, group executive creative director at BBDO, in response to a video Ad Age shared on Twitter of his performance of “I Like It.”

The conference, in its 16th year, is meant to be a celebration of the industry and its successes. One panel was called “Corporations & Compassion: A Discussion on Masculinity." The “Gender Parity–It’s Complicated” panel which revealed new research from She Runs It that shows a decline in women leaders. After all that, Pitbull’s performance seemed to undermine the entire week.

“In an industry that sells first and foremost to female consumers, but continues to be male-dominated and massively power-imbalanced when it comes to women … and to talk gender equality, diversity and inclusion but spectacularly fail to deliver on it, it is wholly inappropriate to feature a closing Advertising Week musical act that objectifies women,” says diversity advocate Cindy Gallop, former exec at BBH, founder at MakeLoveNotPorn and board advisor at We Are Rosie, in a statement.

Some wondered how difficult it would have been to hire a female performer who embodied some of equality themes of the week. Pitbull himself, however, was at the conference for a panel called “Reinventing Storytelling for Multicultural Audiences.” He had been on hand to announce the news that his new multicultural agency, 305 Worldwide, created with Horizon Media, had taken on its first client: Boost Mobile (Ad Age spoke with the rapper ahead of his concert on Thursday). The idea of hiring him as a headliner may have been an afterthought on the part of Advertising Week.

Advertising Week has not responded to a request for comment.

Others commented with some snark that the choice of Pitbull was outdated. Pitbull, whose songs include “I Know You Want Me” and “3 to Tango,” got his start in the 2000s, and his debut album “M.I.A.M.I” came out in 2004. Nearly 20 years later and the superstar is still performing, and announced a new album at the performance. But, for many, his heyday has passed. From the stage, he appeared self-aware, saying: “I’m in the 11th hour of my career.”

For observers who feel pushback against Pitbull is much ado about nothing, Gallop says, hold on.

“For anybody leaping to Advertising Week’s defense on this front, for the women in our industry, it’s not just ‘this one thing’, it’s the cumulative effect of so many things like this,” she says.

Pitbull himself managed to work a message of inclusion into his act. “Music brings everybody together," he said from the stage. “It has no barriers. It has no boundaries. It definitely has no borders. And it has no limits.”

14702: Cindy Gallop’s Act Is Getting Obscenely Old And Tired.

Campaign reported on the latest self-promotional stunt from Divertsity Dame Cindy Gallop, who posted a disruptive divertisement for her porn hobby. If a male advertising executive publicly promoted such a venture, it’s a safe bet that Gallop and Diet Madison Avenue would call for his execution. The hypocrisy only underscores Gallop’s thorough lack of character and credibility. Looks like Kevin Roberts was spot on when saying of Gallop, “I think she’s got problems that are of her own making. I think she’s making up a lot of the stuff to create a profile, and to take applause, and to get on a soap[box].” Gallop’s got more soapboxes that Procter & Gamble and Unilever combined. And somebody needs to wash her mouth out with soap.

Here’s why Cindy Gallop projected social sex on NYC buildings this weekend

By Lindsay Stein

The diversity and inclusion advocate launched a guerilla marketing effort to fight censorship.

Cindy Gallop has had it with the strict rules and increasing limitations around adult content on social platforms and in advertising, so the CEO and founder of MakeLoveNotPorn decided to take matters into her own hands over the weekend.

On Friday and Saturday night, Gallop launched a guerilla marketing effort for MakeLoveNotPorn (MLNP) in New York City to tackle current censorship taking place across advertising channels. The outspoken diversity and inclusion advocate projected films and images to promote and help recruit for MLNP — a user-generated social sex video-sharing platform — on buildings in the city, including 14th and Broadway, 14th and 8thAvenue and Houston & MacDougal.

Gallop launched MLNP about 10 years ago to help drive healthy conversations around real sex and erase harmful myths and stigmas put into society by the hardcore porn industry.

Throughout her journey with MLNP, Gallop has struggled — like many sex tech companies — to promote her company through advertising, whether with traditional spots, billboards or social placements.

Without the option of using traditional OOH buys, Gallop teamed up with Jane Wayne Productions on her guerilla marketing effort to raise awareness of censorship issues as well as her company.

14652: Cindy Gallop Is Beyond Getting Old.

Advertising Age published a doddering rant on ageism from bitching bomber Cindy Gallop. Guess Gallop has set aside her sexual-harrassment-is-the-biggest-business-issue-in-the-U.S.-and-India soapbox in favor of promoting senior-level seniors. Sadly—but not surprisingly—her pontifications are filled with tired clichés and contrived solutions. In Gallop’s case, #sayyourage reads as #Say You Rage. Sorry, but she comes off like an Ornery Old Lady.

Opinion: Eight ways to turn ageism on its head

If we want to change how aging is depicted in advertising, we need to eradicate ageism from the ad industry itself

By Cindy Gallop

As a proud 59-year-old, I’ve been championing the power of age in the advertising industry for years. We are a powerful force in popular culture with the ability to shape what people think, believe and do. We can change the way aging is depicted in advertising by changing ageism within the ad industry itself. If we do that, we can change the way society views aging. So I’m asking all of you to help eradicate the one ‘ism’ that affects every single one of us—because we all age.

Here are some powerful actions you can take to end ageism, whatever level of the business you’re at and whatever job you do.

It’s time to do what we’re great at: reshaping culture.

For too long we’ve been part of perpetuating a culture that celebrates youth. Evian’s long-running tagline presumes that everyone wants to #liveyoung. But there’s so much we’re not leveraging, strategically and creatively, around the idea of #liveolder.

Tap into the aspiration of age. We’re very happy with who we are. We don’t aspire to be young. But young people aspire to be us. Here’s why:

We don’t give a shit.

We have self-confidence that comes with age.

We know what really matters.

We’re free to express our individuality.

We’ve developed our own sense of personal style.

We’ve developed our own sense of home style.

We have better relationships because we know what really matters.

We’re experienced—at everything.

We’re well-traveled.

We’re starting businesses at the highest rate of any entrepreneur group.

We have money to spend.

Lead with what’s aspirational about being older, and the young will follow—not the other way round.

Show us as we really are.

We don’t look, dress or act like those old-people ad clichés. But we do flirt, date, fall in love and have sex. You can tell great brand stories with us at their center, behaving as we do in real life.

So next time you cast an ad, cast older.

Stop, catch yourself and actively brief your casting agent/director/photographer to cast talent 10 years or more older than the age you were about to go with.

There’s a huge amount of money to be made by taking older people seriously.

The Fed’s Nov 2018 study found that millennials compared to previous generations have “lower earnings, fewer assets and less wealth.” We’re the ones with the disposable income and we’re looking to spend it.

Conduct the thought exercise of “If we were to target people 40 and over with this brand, what would that look like?”

Whatever brand you work on and whoever your target is, try this exercise (maybe as part of a brand away-day or pitch brainstorm). Research older consumers’ attitudes and behavior towards your brand; quantify the opportunity with them; identify the trends that would make your brand especially compelling to them. At the very least, it’ll make you think differently; at best, you might find you have a huge money-making opportunity on your hands.

The data is out there. Use it, or pioneer it.

In the first instance, AARP has a wealth of data, insights and trends—everything you need to do all of this research.

But, you can add older respondents into any research you’re doing.

Broaden the age range of who you’re talking to, and see what they have to say.

Pioneer a thoughtful, insightful, newsworthy research study into over-40s as the marketing target of today—and new, creative terminology.

There’s a new study into the habits of millennials released pretty much every week. Be the first to do a study on over-40s, over-50s, over-60s. We hear that millennials are ‘killing’ this thing and that thing… Why not identify instead what older people are “birthing?” And while we’re at it, let’s have some new names. It’s time we retired “Boomer.”

When you’re told the target is youth and millennials, ask “Why?”

Seriously. Ask why. Have the discussion, with client or agency.

The future of work is hybrid.

That means we have a future that’s comprised of the fresh perspectives of youth plus the experience and expertise of age.

Create cross-generational work interactions at every opportunity. Keep hierarchical structures flat. Put the youngest person on the team in charge of leading the team. Bring in older/more experienced people to be “part of”, not “in charge of” a team.

Introduce a “menternship” scheme. The new world order of internships: “menternships” recruit older people to provide mentorship and experience in return for opportunity and skill-building.

Leaders: hire the biggest growth driver for our industry—expertise.

Think how much easier your life would be and how much smoother your business would run if your employees knew exactly what to do in a crisis because they’d seen it all before? If they were able to analyze any business situation to get to a solution quickly; stayed calm under pressure; were great people managers; had excellent craft skills and technical capabilities; and, because of all that, were extremely time- and cost-efficient?

Guess what? There’s a ton of us out there who deliver on all of that, available for immediate hire! That’s why I don’t call people like me “older”—I call us “experts.”

Test-drive us. Identify upcoming employee “gaps” (parental leave; sabbaticals; vacations; sick leave) or short-term opportunities (pitches, projects, experiments) and actively look to fill them with us: older, expert candidates. Brief HR, your recruiters, your employees to search out candidates and make recommendations for short-term positions. You may find we turn into great longer-term hires.

Experts are not “too expensive.”

Actively seek older candidates for open positions and be straightforward that salary trade-offs are balanced by opportunity and new experience. Many older candidates are open to taking a reduction in historical pay levels when balanced with opportunity and the chance to gain new experience/training and to build up their resume. Identify the benefits for us and welcome a transparent, open conversation about the value for both sides.

Ad industry media: you have a role to play.

Celebrate older talent with 40 Over 40/50 Over 50/60 Over 60 lists. We have a plethora of 30 Under 30 lists—and we absolutely want to celebrate and highlight the younger talent in our industry. But now it’s time to celebrate the expert talent. And when you do, please celebrate the experts who are working, and those who aren’t working. So that right-minded agencies can snap them up.

Lastly, one small action everyone can take: #sayyourage.

Say your age and own your age. Age isn’t just a number, it’s a very special number. You are the sum total of all your learnings and life experiences to date and that’s what makes you valuable. The older you get, the more valuable you get. Your age represents your value. It’s what makes you as special and unique as you are. Always #sayyourage no matter what age you are because ageism exists at every point along the age spectrum. You can be dismissed for being too young as well as for being too old. Be proud to #sayyourage all the way through your career and life, because that’s another small way we can change ageism for all of us.

This is just the start. This call to action is a living, breathing manifesto. I welcome your own ideas. As an industry, we need to measure and evaluate the results of taking these actions—so I want to hear about everything you put into practice and what happens as a result.

14586: Advertising Industry Boys’ Club Introduces The 97% Movement.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 1, 2019

Former Creative Honchos Launch The 97% Movement

Madison Avenue, New York City, NY — A group of former Executive Creative Directors and Chief Creative Officers launched The 97% Movement, a bold initiative designed to enhance and grow the male majority in the advertising industry. The 97% Movement is aiming for 100% macho dominance in agency creative departments by 2020, according to anonymous reports from Diet Madison Avenue that really pissed off Ralph Watson.

“You can’t be a great creative director and have a baby and keep spending time off every time your kids are ill,” reiterated Neil French. “Everyone who doesn’t commit themselves fully to the job is crap at it.”

The 97% Movement leadership includes Joe Alexander, Tham Khai Meng, Jeremy Perrott, Ted Royer, Eric Springer and Ralph Watson. Gustavo Martinez is overseeing group activities in Spain.

Industry female figures presented varied responses. Cindy Gallop delivered an expletive-filled tirade, Kat Gordon filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement and Jo Wallace declined to comment per the insistence of legal counsel at JWT London. “The 97% Movement has my full support and restless ambition,” gushed Wendy Clark. “Oops. I mean they’re fully reprehensible and reckless assholes.”

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14464: Welcome To 2019, Where Bullshit Is An Everyday Thing.

Campaign published more Welcome to 2019 reports—continuing to unintentionally show 2019 will be a smokescreen-filled rerun of 1919 and every year since.

The unsustainable ad agency business model regurgitated the recognition of broken business models, consolidation, consultancies, in-house outhouses and more. Once again, Campaign tapped an all-White panel to pontificate on the state of affairs, although the trade journal diversified the action figures illustrating the piece.

Confronting the diversity backlash sought to address exclusivity and inclusivity by tapping an almost-all-White panel—and spotlighting Black man and White woman action figures. Sorry, but the commentators are not qualified to address matters:

• Havas London and Havas Helia CEO Xavier Rees lacks credibility by virtue of representing a White holding company fueled by nepotism.

• Creative Equals Founder and CEO Ali Hanan is arguably most interested in gender equality—and gender equality for White women, to be specific. Hanan whined, “Change is slow, messy and hard.” Yeah, and she damn well knows it’s significantly slower, messier and harder for people from BAME categories. In adland, change is not slow, messy and hard. Rather, discrimination is: 1) lightning quick; 2) organized and institutionalized and; 3) painlessly perpetuated and easily excused.

Divertsity Diva and Pseudo Provocateur Cindy Gallop gushed gobbledygook that will undoubtedly benefit one half-Chinese executive. Looks like sexual harassment is no longer the single biggest business issue in the industry and India. In 2019, Gallop is promoting White-women-led holding companies, White men jumping on the White women’s bandwagon, the exposure of sexual predators, the eradication of racism and the embracing of White elders. Act now—Gallop’s keynote speaker schedule is filling fast!

14387: Wrestling With Gender Equality In Advertising.

Campaign published a perspective from The Beyond Collective CEO Zaid Al-Zaidy—inspired by the JWT London fiasco—that underscores the similarities and differences between how the U.S. and U.K. advertising communities fumble with diversity and divertsity. The last time MultiCultClassics noticed Al-Zaidy, he was suggesting that the United Kingdom address its diversity dilemmas by emulating the United States. Al-Zaidy’s proposal seemed like Harvey Weinstein seeking advice from Bill Cosby. Interestingly enough, the U.K. is following follies from the U.S. in regards to gender equality and sexual harassment. Just as the loose cannons at Diet Madison Avenue sparked controversy and a lawsuit, a loud-mouthed creative director allegedly did the same across the pond. Al-Zaidy recommends the industry find a “safe place” to calmly confront the complexities and conflicts. Unfortunately, we’re running out of neutral continents. Perhaps someone should simply stage a tag-team wrestling match pitting Cindy Gallop and Jo Wallace against Ralph Watson and the JWT London crew.

It’s little wonder some white men have begun to feel like the enemy

There are few places for reasonable and rational debate beyond screaming headlines or shaming posts on social media.

By Zaid Al-Zaidy

As that most gammony of dead white scientists, Isaac Newton, famously said: “To every action, there is always an equal and opposite reaction.” And so we see it with reports that a number of white men from J Walter Thompson London are calling out the agency for discrimination on the basis of their colour, gender, nationality and sexual orientation.

Without wanting to go into the precise details of this incident, being not in full knowledge of the facts, it seemed inevitable that the industry would reach this milestone. The time bomb has been ticking away in a cupboard of our creation.

It goes without saying that the campaigns to increase the representation of women, ethnic and other minorities (of which I remain a proud but fairly lonely member) are a good thing. The problem is that, with the high temperature that has been set by some, which many would argue is only commensurate with the level of rebalancing that is required, a lot of men — particularly white men of a certain era — have become positioned as or made to feel like they are the enemy. They are therefore scared.

You might think that the word “scared” is excessive, given the horrific nature of some of the #TimeTo and #MeToo stories. And, of course, the context is very different. But this vulnerability has come about because there are few places for reasonable and rational debate beyond the screaming headlines or shaming tweets or social media posts by those whose virtue doesn’t just need signalling but shouting from the rooftops.

“Safe places” are often mocked, but that’s exactly what we need — somewhere for balance and nuance and shades of grey in an industry where everything has become binary.

Bias isn’t black and white — it’s time that we acknowledge everyone is somewhere on the “ism” spectrum, depending on multiple internal and external influences. Therefore, no one person can claim to be a paragon of virtue, despite this social media-fuelled arms race to appear to be so. It’s little wonder, then, that some men (particularly white ones) have begun to feel like they are under constant attack.

The industry’s navel-gazing and attempts to rectify the complex wrongs of the past have been done in the full glare of the lights of publicity. At times, it has seemed like point-scoring or a quick PR hit, rather than a concerted effort to change the industry to better reflect society and our ultimate customers — the public. It’s in all of our interests that we create an environment that isn’t a case of “them and us”. It’s a case of bringing everyone together.

As that old dead white dude also said: “Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy.”

Zaid Al-Zaidy is chief executive of The Beyond Collective