Advertising agency criticised for announcing new all-male line up

WHEN ABC star Todd Sampson’s ad agency congratulated itself on new hires with this picture. It failed to see this backlash coming.

A TOP Sydney advertising agency has been slammed after it announced a slew of high profile new “creatives” — all of them white men.

But Leo Burnett Sydney, whose non-executive chairman is Todd Sampson, a panellist of ABC’s Gruen, said the men were hired not because of their gender but because “they were the best”.

Prominent British equality campaigner and advertising guru Cindy Gallop took to Twitter to lash out at the ad agency for congratulating itself on its new line up of entirely white men.

Leo Burnett’s announcement even came with a picture of it’s new team of caucasian blokes, full of smiles, draped over one another, reported Mumbrella.

Cindy Gallop called out Leo Burnett for it’s all-male new line up. Picture: Laura Cavanaugh/Getty Images

“It’s 2015,” wrote Ms Gallop, “What the f*** were you thinking?” And she didn’t stop there, continuing to rebuke the ad agency on the social media platform commenting “[Leo Burnett — It] isn’t an anomaly — it’s the norm and that’s what has got people so riled up.”

Leo Burnett’s announcement about its new hires claimed they added “firepower” to it’s creative team.

“Between them, the five Creatives have worked on major brands across multiple industries and continents and have been recognised at the highest levels for their creative achievements, accumulating hundreds of local and global award wins.”

Todd Sampson, of agency Leo Burnett and a panellist on ABC’s Gruen. Image: Britta Campion

Ms Gallop’s comments have received widespread acclaim including from Australian commentator and author Mike Carlton.

@cindygallop @nicchristensen @LeoBurnettSyd @mumbrella It's a man's world at Leo Burnett !

— Mike Carlton (@MikeCarlton01) November 10, 2015

"you have to break the closed loop of white guys talking to white guys about other white guys" https://t.co/r3Tpgq8wHE

— Bob O`Bob (@bob_obob) November 11, 2015

Leo Burnett Sydney chief executive Peter Bosilkovski admitted ad agencies needed to do more when it came to gender equality.

“Even though we seem to be in the centre of this conversation — it is nevertheless an important conversation and one our industry really needs to have. While we are not perfect, gender balance has been a top priority for us for a long time and we have come a long way in achieving this.”

Mr Bosilkovski said half the agency’s staff were women as were 45 per cent of the Sydney management team.

“It is important to note here that none of these people were hired because of their specific gender, race or nationality — they were hired because they were the best,” he said.

Originally published as Advertising agency criticised for announcing new all-male line up