Quit smoking, no drinking and driving, clean elections, child welfare, domestic violence preventions, gender equality. . . . . . When an advertisement is from social institutions, charity foundations or child care services, the product usually is a marginalized group or taboo subject. In the advertising industry, controversial topics are always a challenge, and need to be dealt with care and consideration. It’s having to stride into the office when you are aware everyone knows you are late. That is, this kind of thing must be “bold, yet sensitive”.
The client, YWCA New Zealand, requested a survey about “women being succumbed to 10% lower income than men of the same job”. The purpose of this campaign is to promote the “Pay Equality Bill”, a law that requires bills to be paid according to a certain ratio of one’s income, instead of a fixed amount. YWCA decided not to fight for this by slamming on desks in the parliament, but rather through the power of the media. It set up an official site that showed statistics to persuade visitors that “women should pay 10% less taxes”, or that man pay 10% more. The solution was quite interesting. It walked way from the original “die hard” scenes we scene in political acts, and tried to “show” the people why women deserve 10% less taxes through the lens of “gender inequality perspectives” that imply “gender inequality facts”.
YWCA Auckland – Demand Equal Pay
In the campaign, the parking lot sign reads “All Day Parking $10”, a couple drives up to the booth and hands the collector $10 along with the parking ticket. The collector peers at him and relies, “It’s eleven dollars, you owe an extra dollar.” The driver starts to bargain that, for parking a day, it should only cost $10! The collector is unflustered. “Because you have a penis.” The driver pauses. “WHAT? ?” The ticket collector replies matter-of-factly: “$10 for women, but for men it’s now $11.” He replies: “That’s insane, mate!” After that, the screen shows a single line reading: “SO IS PAYING WOMEN 10% LESS FOR DOING THE SAME JOB AS MEN.” This implies that, for the same job, women shouldn’t deserve a lower salary based on gender.
The message of the video is to point out how absurd it is to be charged for an extra dollar just because someone has a penis. And vice versa, to get paid 10% more just because you have one, is equally absurd. Despite the topic being a very serious matter, the clip shows how discrimination is taken so matter-of-factly now in our society. Instead of demanding for women’s rights, they opt to parallel the absurdity of such aspects in a different light.
What I admire about this is how they choose to tackle this problem without turning it into a political warfare or rage protest. They take the concept of “paying bills” and redefine what it means to “pay an employee”. In its spirit, it is still a social movement that is hoping to win over supporters. To think about it, the lunch combos in Japan usually come with a large bowl of rice. Many women , who have smaller appetites, ask the servers to halve their rice. However, the meal is still charged by the same price. . . . . . . Not only do Japanese women eat less, they are paid less than their male co-workers, too, yet they have to afford the same price for a 700 Yen lunch combo, or any meal for that matter. I suppose such inequalities are everywhere, not just in New Zealand.
Video / Source：
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxCpCBn3eLU
http://demandequalpay.org.nz
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About the author
Bruce
International advertising producer, movie publisher, and theater publicist. Enrolled in the DY&R Wunderman Script-writing team, a film director for Gamania productions, and the Section Manager of the Product Development Dept.
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