Here are two startling facts. Truck nuts have more constitutional rights under the US Constitution than woman. And the only woman in America that the US government will fight to protect isn’t actually a woman.
The first fact is true because truck nuts are made by a corporation. The US government has even been increasing rights for corporations in recent years. (Meanwhile women’s rights have been declining.) The only woman in American with equal rights isn’t a woman, it is a corporation, WOMAN Corp, and the brainchild of Ogilvy for the ERA Coalition.
WOMAN Corp has been formed and fully incorporated ahead of this year’s midterm elections where the future of women’s rights will be on the ballot. The bold, tongue-in-cheek corporation and its (quite wonderful) announcement video were founded to raise awareness about the disturbing fact that the American government protects, and continues to expand, the rights of corporations while the rights of women are stripped away.
To debut WOMAN Corp, the ERA enlisted Gabriella (Gabby) Pizzolo, best known for her role in the blockbuster series, Stranger Things, on Netflix – to launch the ceiling-shattering new company. She introduces the founding corporation like this:
Pizzolo opens the video, Welcome to WOMAN Corp, saying, “As a newly legal adult woman in America, I got to say, it’s not awesome here. You see, I was under the silly impression that as a woman, I had the same rights as men. But it turns out that for the last 100 years, women have been trying to get the Equal Rights Amendment recognized so we can be protected equally under the Constitution, but our government is always like ‘lol, no thanks.’ But you know what our government does protect – corporations. The government loves protecting corporations. Which got me thinking… if that’s true then I could, hypothetically, create a corporation, name it WOMAN, and the government would care more about protecting WOMAN the corporation than this woman sitting right here.” Gabby concludes with a call to action for people to call their Senator: “Not interested in creating an entire corporation just to get basic human rights? Then help us get the Equal Rights Amendment recognised in the Constitution – because this is fucking bullshit.”
Welcome to WOMAN Corp is part of an Ogilvy campaign that features a call for people to act through political engagement with their members of Congress, donations, and sharing on social media. People are invited to join the staff of WOMAN Corp on LinkedIn by adding it to their work experience. WOMAN Corp is supported by a prestigious board of directors including Congresswoman, Carolyn Maloney; renowned trial lawyer, Benjamin Crump; actress, Gabriella Pizzolo; awarded author, Ilyasah Shabazz; lawyer and Virginia State Senate candidate, Jennifer Carroll Foy; Ogilvy’s Global chief executive officer, Devika Bulchandani; Kimberly Peeler-Allen of the Center for American Women and Politics; Mona Sinha of Equality Now. Additional Board announcements will be made in the coming weeks.
A staggering 85% of people in the United States believe that women are guaranteed equal rights to men under the Constitution. They’re not. To impact change and call attention to this inequity, women have done everything from burning their bras, to marching, to other forms of protest – and yet the Constitution still stands as is, without women having equal protections under law.
“The Supreme Court has expanded rights for corporations while taking away fundamental rights for women and people who can become pregnant. At the same time, our politics are so polarised that members of Congress refuse to acknowledge that women are equal to men and should have equal protections under the law. This is ridiculous and embarrassing,” stated ERA Coalition president and chief executive officer, Zakiya Thomas. “We need our government to stop playing politics with our rights and do better. It’s past time for the Equal Rights Amendment.”
Ogilvy was supported by BCW and GroupM in developing its campaign.
Lisa Bright, chief creative officer for Ogilvy California and global chief creative officer for Ogilvy PR, stated, “2022 has seen the undoing of years of progress that women have marched, protested, and fought for. We wanted to blast a spotlight on the absurdity that while our US government consistently defends the idea that corporations are ‘persons’ – extending more and more rights to them – the rights and protections granted to women are going the absolute opposite direction. And it’s a shame we need to get so damn creative just to get equal rights and protections in this country regardless of our sex. It is imperative that we get the Equal Rights Amendment recognised in our Constitution so that we can put an end to the continued efforts to take away our rights.”
Despite 100 years of marching and protesting, and 50 years since the initial passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, the amendment has not been published. The campaign aims to make it part of the US Constitution at last.
To help, people in the US can reach out to their senators and congressional representatives via social media using the hashtags, #WOMANCorp #ERANow, share the WOMAN Corp video, and join the staff of WOMAN Corp via LinkedIn.
Learn more about WOMAN Corp here. Follow WOMAN Corp on Instagram.
