Posted on 10/21/2005 7:11:17 AM PDT by summer
A well-known ... worldwide creative director at WPP Group resigned his position ...over remarks he made at an industry event about female creative executives. The comments, by Neil French, 61, drew attention to the absence of women at the highest levels of the creative side of advertising....
Mr. French told an audience... women "don't make it to the top because they don't deserve to"...
His comments infuriated... Nancy Vonk... of Ogilvy Toronto, [wrote] a column for a Web site denouncing his comments.
...Ms. Vonk said[:}..."It's undeniable that women aren't getting far enough in the creative part of agencies,..."
.. When Mr. French was asked ...why there weren't more high-ranking women in creative agency positions, he said it was because they were not good enough.
... In 1998, [French] was named to the position of worldwide creative director at WPP... the world's second-largest ad agency ...
...Mr. French defended his remarks:... "[Women] don't work hard enough..."b>
Mr. French said he believed that the event was private...
...Though statistics are hard to come by, industry executives said the scarcity of women in top creative positions is generally recognized. Creative directors are responsible for devising advertising campaigns.
The One Club... will induct a woman into its Hall of Fame next week for the first time since 1974....
...such imbalances in agencies were typically starkest in the creative department.
"Senior female creatives are virtually nonexistent," she said. "It's an incontrovertible fact,..." ...Mr. French's comments [are] "Neanderthal-like," [and]...an industrywide attitude."...
"There's still rampant sexism in our business," ....
Mr. French said he did not regret his remarks...Mr. French [was] widely pilloried on the Internet. "Death by blog is not really the way to go."
ROTFLAMO...thanks, and I am out of here for now! :)
hahaha...you're funny....
You mean they're actually going to start hiring people who are intelligent and creative?
Seriously, isn't that one of the forewarnings of the Apocalypse?
If you actually believe that men and women, in general, think, reason and have the same abilities in all areas then you need some serious help. Despite how you may have been raised, and I suspect you are a younger person (under 50)there are distinct and necessary differences between the sexes other then the obvious physical ones.
Creative advertising?
LOL.
Obviously someone's never read Dry.
Seriously, I don't think so.
If wishes were horses beggars would ride
She made a further posting (not to me) in which she said that women didn't start their own businesses because they were afraid of the finance side. Oh! The Irony! She wants women to run major ad agencies, but she thinks women are afraid of finances!
I thought she made a mockery of her entire position right there. So I called her on her "sexist remark".
Guess I needed a [/sarcasm] tag. But really, I do think her remark was egregiously sexist, so I wasn't being sarcastic. I was just mocking her.
I'm not disputing your assertions, but how exactly does this constitute "news?"
I don't think anyone is living under the delusion that most ad execs are chosen in the same manner that you might, say, select the next Nobel laureate for economics.
when qualified women are hired, how many are willing to work as long, or as hard, as men in the competitive environment? How many will forgo everything for their career to advance?
Well first of all, you don't know what my background is. Second, which is it, can't they get hired, or some did? Next, there has never been a lack of disgruntled people claiming "I'm better than him."
And finally, you've done nothing but sling mud at anyone on this thread that had the temerity to *consider* what the man had to say. Though doubtless you'd chalk it up to my sexism, I'd refuse to hire you for nothing but your antagonistic comportment.
Frankly, anyone who can say "It's very much like what I imagine..." has narcissism issues. How is anyone else suppose to know what you imagine, so exactly what are you suppose to be communicating?
Sorry, I see all your screeching and I immediately get a vision of Lorri Berensen.(sp?)
Understood.
Creativity is a broad term; novelty is often the key toward creating interest in a product.
BTW, does anyone know who the genius is who gave us the barfing passenger in the Dodge truck commercial?
Re post #35 - I already said more women run small businesses then men.
Re post #35 - I already said more women (in this country)run small businesses than men.
When Rather put up the phone memos, blogs exposed the truth.
It's possible in this case that the man was telling the truth, but the PC outrage in the blogs makes it impossible to tell the truth and survive.
**************
My thoughts as well.
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