No More Football
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There once was an ad agency that LOVED football. Was it because it was mainly white middle class management and… you guessed it… male? Was it also part of one of the networks with the worst gender pay gap in the industry? Well, great you asked - yes it was!
So, why on earth are we trying to solve all creative briefs with football? In case you haven’t noticed, the football audience is mainly male. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t the occasional women who like football (like myself - once every two years in the occasion of the World Cup or the Euros only and only to support Italy). But - football culture is masculine, again, in case you haven’t noticed. It’s toxic. It’s sexist. Women get trashed and groped and put down. Jake Daniels was the first male footballer in 30 years to came out as gay in the UK (Headlines! Headlines!). So, why are we trying to shove football down the throats of half the population, people who may just genuinely like other kinds of entertainment. Film! TV! Music! Food! Everyone (mostly everyone) seems to like those things.
What I’m trying to say is… aren’t we perpetrating that gender pay gap by trying to solve ALL BIG BRIEFS with football? I, a female creative who is pretty grossed out by the dark sides of football culture, am genuinely starting to feel out of place. Also, I don’t have the knowledge on the matter of a boy in a beanie who’s been raised on Bovril and stadium profanity. And frankly, I also don’t want to pretend I do either, because I’m pretty sure that half of the audience out there feels exactly like me.
I’m not talking about solving sports channels, sports brands or tournament specific briefs with football, but ALL OTHER BRIEFS. Let’s get a male footballer (because a woman would be controversial...), pay them a fortune and have them [insert stunty idea here]. It’s as random as trying to shove Ariana Grande into every idea. Also, there are other sports. Can we try and solve a brief with spinning?
If we just stopped doing that, that would help women achieve what you want them to achieve, your imaginary bucket list of things we need to do before we can actually be promoted and paid right, more than a self help course or a cliché filled e-conference.
N/A
There once was an ad agency that LOVED football. Was it because it was mainly white middle class management and… you guessed it… male? Was it also part of one of the networks with the worst gender pay gap in the industry? Well, great you asked - yes it was!
So, why on earth are we trying to solve all creative briefs with football? In case you haven’t noticed, the football audience is mainly male. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t the occasional women who like football (like myself - once every two years in the occasion of the World Cup or the Euros only and only to support Italy). But - football culture is masculine, again, in case you haven’t noticed. It’s toxic. It’s sexist. Women get trashed and groped and put down. Jake Daniels was the first male footballer in 30 years to came out as gay in the UK (Headlines! Headlines!). So, why are we trying to shove football down the throats of half the population, people who may just genuinely like other kinds of entertainment. Film! TV! Music! Food! Everyone (mostly everyone) seems to like those things.
What I’m trying to say is… aren’t we perpetrating that gender pay gap by trying to solve ALL BIG BRIEFS with football? I, a female creative who is pretty grossed out by the dark sides of football culture, am genuinely starting to feel out of place. Also, I don’t have the knowledge on the matter of a boy in a beanie who’s been raised on Bovril and stadium profanity. And frankly, I also don’t want to pretend I do either, because I’m pretty sure that half of the audience out there feels exactly like me.
I’m not talking about solving sports channels, sports brands or tournament specific briefs with football, but ALL OTHER BRIEFS. Let’s get a male footballer (because a woman would be controversial...), pay them a fortune and have them [insert stunty idea here]. It’s as random as trying to shove Ariana Grande into every idea. Also, there are other sports. Can we try and solve a brief with spinning?
If we just stopped doing that, that would help women achieve what you want them to achieve, your imaginary bucket list of things we need to do before we can actually be promoted and paid right, more than a self help course or a cliché filled e-conference.