Who run the world?
Maybe it’s because the year I graduated High School (2015), and Mad Men was in its final season, but when I told people I was looking to get into advertising the general response was: “Oh, are you sure? That’s a really… male dominated industry.”
And yes, it’s definitely true. There are a lot of dudes in advertising and those dudes usually get the best jobs.
But there are plenty of women, too. And like much of history, they go unnoticed because, well, no one bothers to write about them.
That ends today.
It’s March, and March is Women’s Month, and in honor of Women’s Month, I’m here to drop a gigantic bombshell on you:
Jeffery Scott is a woman.
… well I guess that “Jeffery Scott is made up of women” is more accurate, but where’s the oomph in that?
Anyways.
More than 3/4 of our workforce is women, and most of our executive staff are women.
I know it sounds like I’m making a mountain out of a molehill here, but that’s actually exceptionally rare in this industry, even among the smaller, boutique agencies. In fact, there’s been a recent movement that’s calling for more women in positions of leadership in advertising. We, of course, are already there, but most of the industry isn’t.
In fact, most industries aren’t. If you don’t believe me, Frances McDormand’s Oscar speech was a sobering reminder of that fact. She asked every female nominee to stand during her speech, and in an auditorium full of people, only a small handful could stand.
Only 11% of women hold executive positions in Silicon Valley companies. And even though research has found that women make better surgeons than men, it’s still an overwhelmingly male field.
I wouldn’t say that advertising is head and shoulders above other fields, but we are starting to see a difference. Maybe it’s because feminism is going more mainstream or because more women are starting to claim the spaces they deserve in creative, but event the industry is starting to lean more on the… well, feminist side of things.
(Speaking of the Oscars, was anyone else just a little struck by that Twitter ad, #HereWeAre? Just a tiny bit? Just me? Cool.)
While, thankfully, a lot of the culture has moved away from 1960’s sexism (though not all of it… but that’s another blog for another day…) a lot of the field is still male-centric. Women do great work, and we’re proof of that.
Have we mentioned yet that our Creative Director is a woman? We haven’t?
Of course, we’re not the first agency to champion the work of women.
Advertising’s history is all thanks to women — Mary Wells Lawrence who was the main inspiration for Peggy Olson (and a Copy Writer like yours truly!) came up with a campaign so good, it’s literally textbook.
Any student of advertising who’s taken more than one class can tell you about the spectacular Braniff Airlines campaign. It literally changed Airline travel as we know it.
Women define this agency, and if I may be so bold, I’d like to say that women make this agency great. We’re Web Developers, Copy Writers, Graphic Designers, Account Executives, Business Operators, Event Planners, Social Media Managers, and so much more.
So, a happy Women’s Month from all of us at JSA (yes, even the fellas — they’re pretty progressive over here.)
(Girls.)
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