With all that is going on in the world, it's hard not to have a bleak outlook. No less because women (reminder: half of the world's population) continue to be overlooked, dismissed and ignored both on and off screen in advertising. Yet, in the midst of crisis light heartedness and humour is often what gets us through and women, believe it or not, can be funny too. 

Humour was at the heart of the conversation at Adam&eveDDB’s latest iteration of She Takes Over where Nicola Kemp, Editorial Director at Creativebrief sat down with Heather Link, Co-Founder and Executive Producer at Missing Link Films, Gaby Grant, Creative at  Adam&eveDDB and Craig Spence, Brand and Communications Officer at  International Paralympic Committee to discuss how sparking joy could be the key to moving the needle forward toward better inclusion.

Ready when opportunity knocks

Despite the existence of Ali Wong, Katherine Ryan, Dawn French and Shaparak Khorsandi (to name but a few) women are still perceived not to be funny. As Grant shares, simply being trusted with a comedy brief is rare but exciting opportunity for creatives. Yet, it is so important that women are afforded such opportunities to showcase their funny as Grant says that different perceptions, seeing the world differently and making astute observations is fuel for comedy.

Link points to the fact that she has seen little progress in appointing female directors during her five years in the industry noting that back then just “9% of commercials were directed by women” a stat that has remained static. 

She asks “Where are people looking for directors?” adding that clients tend to reuse the same people over and over again, citing poor excuses such as lack of time. And while she urges clients to give women the opportunity to pitch for jobs that in itself is not enough. As she reminded the audience if women are just being shortlisted to fill a quota, with little chance of landing the brief, then do not waste people's time. Women need opportunities that come with a real shot of actually winning work.

Funny breakthroughs

Inclusive teams diverse in thought produce work with results that speak for themselves, evidenced by campaigns such as award winning WeThe15. WeThe15 is the biggest disability campaign ever created and with a single film “we turned the needle so far.” says Spence. The campaign used humour to address the fact that while disabled people live normal lives, get married, fight, pee in the shower, they do not get afforded the same opportunity as others. The film reached 1 billion views in just 16 weeks, a number that Spence stresses might not have been achieved if the film was not funny. 

“British humour is unique but the campaign was shown in 200 countries. Getting it right was difficult but scenes, such as the lady who says she is not praying for cure but praying for a handbag struck the right tone and landed just right” says Spence. Sense checking such scenes with a diverse range of people of different genders, nationalities, ages and more was the key to ensuring the campaign's success. 

Breaking down walls

Spence raised the point that “when working toward inclusion for marginalised groups let's not work in silos - think of women with disabilities and address intersectionality.” While working with the International Paralympic Committee he has seen first-hand the way that sport has been used to challenge perceptions and change attitudes.

The 2012 Olympics is an example of where in order to achieve different outcomes, different methods and processes are needed. Before the games, there was a lack of disabled presenters on TV yet the organisation went out on a mission to make more opportunities and found talent like Alex Brooker who remains a household favourite today. The games also made an effort to give jobs to local residents by holding job fairs at community venues, showing that talent is out there if you make an effort to look. 

When such talent is found it's important to not only make a seat at the table but to listen to their opinions. Grant points to the example of the Samsung Night Owl’s campaign that showed a woman running at 2 am as a time when either women were not in the room or their opinions were silenced. A branding mistake for Samsung that could have easily been avoided if women had the space to voice their opinions.

Making the change

“People go with the norm but fear of difference prevents progress,” explained Spence. A point backed up by Link who says “we should strive to discover the next generation of talent.”

To implement true progress Link stresses that the disconnect between what agencies are saying and what they are doing needs to be addressed. She adds: “Agencies have to explore where bias comes from conscious or unconscious and push is also needed from clients.”

Grant says that her best work is done when she feels “treated as an equal in the industry and there is no hierarchy. Where good ideas are valued, no one is junior, mid or senior and that feels powerful. A good idea is a good idea.” It is this simple act of inclusion and making people feel valued that creates an environment where work is able to thrive. Kindness and openness are concepts that although simple, enable joy and creativity to flourish. Creating an environment where women have equal opportunities, feel welcome and all kinds of people can have fun and laugh ripples down into the work, resonating with audiences alike.