Advertising's jury gender skew is somehow still a thing. Laura Swinton talks to the ADC about how they're trying to push for change
Why Getting More Women onto Award Show Juries Could be the Ultimate Ad Industry Hack
“Of all the things we’ve done at ADC this has been the hardest, psychologically. When you basically hit a wall and come up against negativity and anger then you start to think you’re crazy. We got people telling us saying that we were wrong, that it sucked, that it shouldn’t exist.” What could ADC's Executive Director Ignacio Oreamuno possibly have done to earn such a torrent of disapproval? Decided to populate his juries with pre-schoolers? Chimpanzees? Err, not exactly. The answer is: a few more women. The ADC’s 50/50 initiative to create gender-balanced award show juries and remove some invisible barriers to adland super stardom has just entered its second year. Ignacio is convinced that basic changes like this hold the key to transforming the industry and righting its (kinda retro) track record on female leadership. So why are other award shows and parts of the industry digging their heels in?