Women today are retiring with half the pension income of men; it is this shocking disparity that is the inspiration behind the latest campaign from Scottish Widows launched on International Women’s Day to draw attention to the Gender Pension Gap.

In a campaign created by Zenith and Adam&EveDDB this statistic is used to cut through the clutter in a  media strategy designed to shock and disrupt.

The campaign kicked off on  International Women’s Day in the form of idents on Channel 4 interrupting targeted programmes on TV and VOD, including C4 News, Gogglebox, George Clarke: Amazing Spaces and 24 Hours in A&E.

During each show’s half-time break, the familiar Channel 4 announcer informed viewers that the show had concluded, but only for female viewers; meaning women would only see half of the show. After a short pause, the voice-over continued, “Frustrating? What’s more frustrating is that on average women are retiring with only half the pension of men.”

The disruptive campaign was designed to educate the public on pension inequality and raise awareness. Through the use of the shocking revelation that women are receiving half as much pension as men, Scottish Widow hopes to get people thinking about their own pensions in the hopes that the next generation of women can avoid this fate. In turn, Scottish Widow is showcasing its credentials as a pension expert, offering women guidance with their pensions savings to overcome the Gender Pension Gap.

“The work Scottish Widows has done on the Gender Pension Gap in recent years is one of the best examples of ‘purposeful’ advertising. It’s been a fantastic experience building 2022’s activity with Channel 4, Metro and Twitter. We believe this campaign will stop women and men in their tracks this week, forcing us all to think about how unfair it is that women have to retire with half the pension of men.” explained Richard Kirk, Chief Strategy Officer at Zenith UK.

The idents are also supported by a Mail Metro cover wrap and high-impact press formats, along with Twitter’s impactful ‘first view’ takeover meaning that Scottish Widows’ message is the first thing users see when they open the app

“Scottish Widows was founded to champion the interests of women. This is no less vital in 2022, and our IWD campaign dramatizes the pension shortfall affecting women in the UK, in the strongest possible fashion,” added Richard Warren, Managing Director at Lloyds Banking Group.

The campaign will be supported by PR activity and paid content across Facebook, Instagram and YouTube and will run until 9^th April.