When Saatchi & Saatchi Chairman Kevin Roberts said of gender diversity “the fucking debate is all over”, he meant “of course it’s over, I’m still fucking here”.
That was Friday. But by Saturday he was no longer here. He was no longer on a platform pontificating on what women want from work, and why more of them aren’t in leadership positions in the ad industry. Earlier today, he resigned.
I worked in advertising for more than 20 years and, like many of my former female advertising colleagues, was in no way surprised by this attitude. It’s been endemic to agency life for decades and is only just starting to change.
Another bloke banished to Shamed Man's Gulag. Didn't Saatchi boss simply explain where all the great women go? by me https://t.co/chiVynZs2h
— Grace Dent (@gracedent) August 1, 2016
It’s an attitude that’s been given a glamorous sheen by series such as Mad Men where the treatment of women (ok, Peggy) is captivating and repulsive in equal measure.
The real surprise for me is how many female commentators have completely failed to understand the gravity of Roberts’ message, and the meanness with which he spoke of one of the leading female figures in the industry (more on her later).
What they focused on was political correctness, with tweet after tweet asking why this man should be silenced for saying what most women also think, and endless column inches explaining that of course women want to have families and don’t necessarily want the stress of a leadership position too.
Newsflash: it wasn’t about the treatment of women in general in the workplace; it wasn’t about generational shifts in attitudes to family life. It was simply and plainly a man concocting a theory to excuse the paucity of women at the top of the advertising industry.
It was a particular comment, aimed at a particular group of people, about a particular industry. So let me enlighten those female commentators now.
On entry level to the advertising industry, the gender split is fairly equal at around 50:50. But as one moves up the ladder, the split changes, and you find 27% female to 73% male at the highest levels of seniority, according to a recent industry study.
And in the creative department it’s a travesty of wasted talent: only 11% of the world’s creative directors are female. Even that 11% figure is up significantly from 3% from a decade ago. When Roberts says that the gender debate is over perhaps he means we now have over 10% of women as creative leads, so job done!
Is anyone ever allowed to say debates on gender bias are over? Saatchi boss disciplined over gender comments https://t.co/MzeeFxwYBZ
— Joanna Williams (@jowilliams293) August 1, 2016
Now why is this? Well as one former agency boss of mine said to me: “Women can’t tell jokes and women can’t be creative”. He was including cooking in that of course, as “all of the best chefs in the world are men”. This is yet another myth that abounds in the industry, casting doubt on women and their suitability for the top jobs.
Time and again we come up against these myths. One is that, as a woman, you must pass the likeability test. As I was once told by a male agency peer: “people always say you’re having a big impact here but I think you suffer on the likeability aspect: likeability isn’t your priority, doing the right thing is”. I resigned. He got promoted.
Even as he was saying the words that the gender debate is over, Roberts was diminishing one of the industry’s most prominent female role models.
Among his pronouncements was the accusation that Cindy Gallop, a gender diversity advocate in the industry, was in it for her own gain.
This Saatchi boss has been disciplined for saying out loud what every woman I know thinks. Utterly bizarre. https://t.co/pEj3aDwb95
— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) July 31, 2016
By “in it” he means “publicising herself”. Women I know would say of her: “she speaks up on behalf of other women – and men”.
It is a shame that the female commentators, who were so quick to call out Publicis’ action to place Roberts on leave as PC-mania, didn’t realise that he was diminishing one of the leading female lights of the industry, again calculated to make her seem less likeable.
So, I hate to bust the latest myth but ad-women do want the top leadership positions in the industry they excel in, enjoy, and have worked hard in most of their lives.
Roberts works in the myth-making industry. An industry that has created myths about secret recipes, about pioneering founders, about fandom and loyalty, about clubs that you dream of one day being accepted into. Don’t be surprised that he excels in myth-making about a woman’s place in that industry too.
Tracey Follows is former senior advertising executive and the author of 98% Pure Potato. She tweets from @tracey_lou
