Search for “CEO” on Google Images, and you’ll find only a handful of the first 100 results include female faces. Of those, one is a stock photo and another is … CEO Barbie.
A 2015 study by CNNMoney found that 14.2 percent of leadership positions in the S&P 500 are held by women, and according to nonprofit Catalyst, only 4 percent of top companies are currently led by female chief executives.
To help change Google’s own male-dominated portrayal of CEOs, three aspiring agency professionals working their way through BBH’s internship program, The Barn, want to change that fact with the help of some strategic SEO magic.
Searching for the often controversial, but always relevant subjects to use for BMA.com, sometimes you find a gem. As you may have seen (depending on your market), Jet Blue has been taking very directed shots at CEOs using several snappy commercials are truthful AND funny. This is what is commonly known as “Sarcasm.” I have been accused of being sarcastic before…by family, friends, coworkers, teachers, etc. So, I thought I’d better know what the word meant.
Anyway, I decided to see if the aviation industry, especially CEOs that chartered or took company/ private jets for their air travel found the ads humorous. That would be a “NO: They were not amused.” In fact, they were almost hostile. I stole this reply off of an aviation pubs blog responses:
Andrew,
I watched the vidoes of the new ‘CEO’ JetBlue commercials.
I am a CEO…and I don’t think they are ‘funny’ nor ‘clever’. As for being well timed…I viewed them just prior to my scheduled departure…on my plane. David will regret paying for this nonsense.
Please find something else to write about…maybe something related to ‘news’ in our industry.
-Name Withheld (by BMA.COM)
OWCH! Sounds like someone didn’t get their yearly stipend! Granted, most Warren Buffets of the world are not flying coach, so these spots are meant to be facetious. However, a CEO that’s under pressure may (obviously) react differently. The Jet Blue site has quite a few funny CEO jabs on it. Go to: www.welcomebigwigs.com.
Jeff Louis; Strategic Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Coordinator. His passion is writing, contributing to BMA as well as freelancing. He’d love to hear from you Twitter, or look him up on LinkedIn.
This post summarises an article from the Financial Review Jan 09 in which 34 Australian CEO’s are interviewed regarding their approach to the trying economic and business conditions ahead.
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