Australia is either an early uptaker or an instigator of a lot of next gen improvements. Equal pay for men and women is not one of them.

DDB Sydney is the ad agency working towards pay without a gender bias for the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA).

Its campaign, Equal Pay is in your hands, launched on September 30. A bottle of water was sent to the 3000 Australian CEOs who have not yet undertaken a gender pay gap analysis (a fancy term for looking at their payroll data to make sure that women and men are being paid fairly) or are not currently taking action.

It wasn’t just any bottle of water. Daughter Water is a drink “scientifically” designed to help CEOs conceive a girl.”

Why?

DDB Sydney creative director, Jen Speirs explained, “We launched the campaign by asking the question: Can a drink close the pay gap? Weirdly, we believe it just might. Research shows that when a CEO has a baby daughter, the pay gap in their company shrinks. So let’s get more CEOs to have daughters.

The idea came from conversations with those who had addressed the problem: “Leaders who have taken action on gender equality often talk about a light bulb moment that helped them see gender equality issues in a different light. For many, this moment involved having a daughter. (Indeed, international research backs it up, showing that when CEOs have a daughter, the pay gap shrinks in their organisation.)”

“This may seem like a ridiculous product. But it’s no less ridiculous than having to wait for CEOs to have a baby girl before everyone’s given a fair go,” Speirs concluded.

A content film and a microsite were created.

The site publishes the data that lets CEOs, HR Directors and individuals see where their company is at.  The site can also send an email on behalf of an individual to his/her CEO – either praising their status, or asking them to act.

WGEA Public Affairs executive director, Yolanda Beattie said, “DDB has done an exceptional job developing a thought provoking and disarming campaign that takes the message of pay equity directly to CEOs.  We are confident this campaign will provide the platform to start a national conversation on how gender bias impacts pay outcomes for women and ultimately change HR practices across Australian workplaces.”

DDB Group Australia CEO, Andrew Little added, “In today’s landscape, many CEOs will be surprised a gender pay gap is still an issue – I certainly was. However with 73.7% having never undertaken an analysis, it is clear that many are unaware of their current standing.  At DDB we have completed phase one of the analysis and are keen to continue to work closely with the WGEA as we continue to implement our comprehensive diversity strategy.”

Creative credits:

Creative agency: DDB Sydney

Chief creative officer: Toby Talbot

Creative director: Jen Speirs

Art director: Chris Crawford

Copywriter: Kim Fraser

Senior designer: Domenic Bartolo

Production: Brett Griffiths

Head of production: Brenden Johnson

Agency producer: Rebecca Whitehead

TV Production company: Sergeant Major

Executive producer: Ashley McLeod

Production manager: Georgia Mappin

Director of Photography: Matt Stewart

Director: David Jagoda

Sound studio: We love Jam

Sound engineer: Justin Spasevski

PR: Mango