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."
There's few things I enjoy more than: drinking a grande soy latte when I wake up each day, and reading the front page of the NYT Business Section when it reports: yet another white male media jerk, who denied talented women the right to work and earn a living, has now met his DEATH by BLOG.
That, and the smell of napalm in the morning...yes, that's about where my head is at these days.
PS He made these remarks at an ad industry event in Canada on Oct 6.
PSS :)
I'm surprised he wasn't arrested in Canada and charged with a HATE crime!
..STEP #2...remove shoe,remove sock,insert foot into mouth,chew vigoriously,turn in key to executive wash room>
Doogle
Maybe he was telling the truth. This is a different kind of death by blog.
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.
Looks like we need some affirmative action in the Ad agencies.
Just who or what is the WPP Group?
Yep. Unless you want to believe the liberal lie about rampant sexism, you have to take his side in this.
I agree. I have worked with many outstanding women. Some women do make it to the top, and they undoubtably deserve to. But perhaps the number of women who deserve to make it that far is small.
On the TV show "The Apprentice" it's always interesting to see the differences between the men and the women. Many women show signs of self-destructive behavior in a competitive environment.
It is the world's 2nd largest ad agency "holding company" which means it owns a bunch of advertising agencies. It has a fascinating history, in that "WPP" literally stands for: WIRE PLASTIC PRODUCTS. It is owned by Martin Sorrell, a Brit, who actually used to manufacture and produce: wire baskets and other wire plastic products. But then he noticed American stockholders of American publicly held ad agencies were getting TOTALLY SCREWED by the LACK of any return due to STAGGERING SALARIES OF FAT CAT MANAGEMENT, so he did this: a hostile takeover of JWT, which WAS an American ad agency, publicly held, but, is now part of WPP, a Brit conglomerate. WPP has not stopped acquiring ad agencies. Now, they are huge.
Nope. You're wrong. Here is the problem: WOMEN CAN'T GET HIRED EVEN WHEN THEY ARE QUALIFIED. It is a whole different issue than what you suspect.
No, his side is the idiot side. If you want to be an idiot, then, yes, take his side.
You would have to first read her blog entry before you make those conclusions. I couldn't even post tghe entire article. I hope someone posts it. Maybe I will find it later.
I gotta bite: If my suspicions are incorrect, but you understand what the real issue is, please enlighten me.
THAT IS CORRECT. It IS an OLD BOY'S INDUSTRY and it PAYS MEGA BUCKS. Women are OUT.
Re your post #16 - THANK YOU FOR POSTING THAT LINK!
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