-Fifty years ago ads for cigarettes were everywhere and endorsed by celebrities from sports to movies.

-Coca Cola, backed by the Soda Pop Board of America, once proclaim that our children’s brains needed sugary drinks in their formative years to develop properly and fit in with society properly.

–Airlines used to position their women employees as a wonderful way for men to replace their wives on their travels (or even find a wife for that matter).

Now, well past my formative years in the ad game, I am beside myself about the sexist advertising that still exists. I can’t say that I’m an innocent in the world of using the female form to sell product.

Check out these award-winning ice cream spots (yes, I am serious [!], I have shiny pieces of hardware touting my excellence in advertising for these gems…how misinformed was I?):

Creme d’Or Ice Cream

Looking back, I can’t say that I am proud, but I guess you can call me a reformed feminist because I don’t do commercials like that anymore.

Hard to find, but a fantastic gossip read.

The feminist led me to paid more attention to the famous Hollywood casting call. Marilyn Monroe made the casting call famous. Monroe had resolved to sleep with anyone who could help her attain fame and fortune in Hollywood. According to countless biographies, friends of the iconic actress routinely note that she had “sex with anybody she thought might be able to advance her career.”

Many others, male and female, have chosen to take this path, even today. However, women are still being subjected to the sexist rigors of the casting call and showrunners don’t even seem to feel the need to hide it.

There’s been some buzz about “Casting Call, The Project,” which features real women—18 in all—reading real casting notices. Their reactions range from as little as raised eyebrows to exasperated sighs and obscenities.

Three friends created the project—Julie Asriyan, Laura Bray and Jenna Ciralli—summarized their work:

“In our quest to find and create work, we became all too familiar with reading character breakdowns posted on casting call notices via the numerous casting websites (some legitimate and reputable, others, not so much). Throughout this journey, we would often share with each other particularly ridiculous, hysterical and appalling casting call notices.”

The project is working with over 300,000 Facebook views in its first 24 hours and it’s closing in on 100,000 views on youtube:

Each casting call notes the classic stereotypes about gender, age, body type, and race with many conveying the deepest cuts into institutional segregation of the sexes:

• “Loves being a woman, so she probably wears a push-up bra.”
• “Nerdy type of girl, nevertheless she has a boyfriend who loves her.” 
• “Her cleavage is her best feature.”
• “She’s actually pretty, even with no makeup.” 

My “favorites” are these lines:

• “Lead actress needed for film about feminism. She is moderately attractive.”
• “Prefer an actor who is not thin. This is a great role for a feminist.”

Seriously, who writes this stuff?!

Kudos to these real New York friends who creatively show that by taking ownership of the creative process, women can “bring about the roles we all want to see for female actors.”

In other news…

…London mayor bans sexist ads…

Women react to ‘body-shaming’ Protein World ads.

…Advertising Agency Returns Cannes Bronze Lion for Sexist Scam Ad for Bayer…

Violating privacy of women wins awards, but doesn’t pay well in public anymore.

and finally, A big brand promises less sexist advertising!

The post The Dreaded Casting Call appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.

First, the big news…

The Media Guy strikes again. A double winner in the 2015 Telly Awards competition. What are the Tellys? Only one of the most prestigious honors in the the advertising industry. Sure, the Clios get all the glam, but the Telly Awards carry a lot of juice.

Yet I digress…


Okay, so where am I?

I still may or may not be negotiating with some nefarious figures in Azerbaijan on human rights issues for Amnesty International. Or maybe I’m wrapping up a book for a retired South Korean bad-ass turned ambassador. What I can tell you is that I just spent a lovely morning catching up with with my dear friend Gizelle Pierre.

Google her. You won’t find her. She’s a mercenary and a makeshift spy. Her undercover work is known by all the wrong people and only a few of the right ones. If she shows up at your home in the shadows of the night, don’t count on sipping your morning coffee at dawn. As a matter of fact, you’ll probably won’t wake up at all. She’s Mrs. Smith without all of the Mr. Smith-Brad Pitt nonsense. She’s also one of the greatest advertising muses in the world. She is the inspiration for the Creme d’Or Ice Cream spot (featured below in the Ad of the Week/Month/Whatever below), GQ’s How to date series (below as well), and my Clio-winning spots from the nineties.

Gizelle is everything you want and she’ll even tell you how to date her!

She calls herself simple, yet one look at her petite, curvy frame let’s you know she is so much more. A lifetime of adventures trapped in confidential silence. Her deep eyes tell you even more. With a deep, throaty laugh she proclaimed, “Holy silencer! It’s 2015, I’m recently single and I’m in my forties. The next year is is going to be a little crazy. I may need to get a few more passports!”

With that, we dived into her 2015 Dating Rules for guys who want a shot with her and her equally wacky girlfriends:

1. We’re all crazy.

It’s cool because guys are more than a little crazy too. But some of us women, holy sh*t. I have stories for days and I’ve only been dating for a short time again. But ask any guy you know in any situation and they’ll all agree: either jump on for the ride or get out of the way.

2. It’s about the aura not about anything else.

We all know this one too. What do we say we want? No seriously, ask one, ask a 100, ask me! We say things like “he’s gotta be smart…and nice…and funny!” Oh, definitely funny. I love funny guys, and he must be be respectful. But he has to be direct because I don’t play games. Guess what? I just lied to you like seven times right there and I am not even the craziest one. At the end of it all, but nice, funny, rich, etc., but really if you doing have that aura and energy that connects with me you are cooked. We should just do a coffee and see if we match. You’ll know if we should be together before your latte is dips to 120 degrees.

3. If I don’t act interested, I really am.

I’ll give you my number, but I won’t answer until the third time you call. I say I’m available but my schedule is always booked when you try to make a plan. Timing is everything you know?! After all, I am undercover 90% of the time.

4. Have a pickup line that actually works. 

Every girl needs a little protection and some contacts that change colors.

The pickup line that works is, like, when guys are just nice and giving you compliments with confidence. You know, “Hi, your hair looks good today.” “Hi, I like those shoes.” But then they also might be gay, but—it doesn’t matter. Ha! Really though, I don’t like lines, so just be you. Because when you try to hard, you end up looking like a fool, and we both feel awkward, and now I have to tell you to walk away and I’m keeping the $14 cocktail that you just bought me.

5. I mean I love poetry…

…but be manly. Manliness is the best thing. Who wouldn’t want to date a manly guy? A lumberjack…or an astronaut…a crocodile wrangler…smell like gasoline—gasoline in the woods. Seriously though, take control of the date and the activity and what we are doing. Make me feel safe. Don’t worry, I am happy to pay for half. But whatever you do, don’t be that rude guy. You know that guy who’s rude to people for no particular reason. If you’re rude to anybody that’s beneath you or you treat people like they’re beneath you, that’s a deal-breaker. It shows a lot about somebody’s integrity, personality, how they are as a person by the way they treat other people. Don’t let any failures affect your self-worth because that will show through and you’ll get into a snowball of self-loathing.

How to Date…

It’s a little known fact the Gizelle was the muse behind the How to Date Series from GQ. From True Detective star Alexandra Daddario recommending Tinder to Game of Thrones queen Natalie Dormer talking about where to pick people up,
one-liners, and more, these vignettes give you everything you need to charm your lady.

The post Gizelle: Model, Spy and World’s Greatest Muse appeared first on Media Guy Struggles.