Campaign Brief to censor comments as backlash continues

The advertising publication at the centre of a gender representation debate will crack down on comment moderation to address backlash as agencies cancel subscriptions.

The publication at the centre of a gender representation debate in the advertising industry has apologised for publishing a feature featuring images of men and no women.

Campaign Brief, the publication at the centre of a debate over gender representation in the advertising agency, will censor comments on the website in a bid to address backlash over a “sexist” all-male feature as advertising agencies begin cancelling subscriptions.

The publication, which showcases the creative advertising and production industry, has been in the firing line for its annual The Work feature, which ranks the most awarded creative leaders based on the work created by their agencies. This year’s feature attracted international backlash when a two-page spread featuring photos of 20 men and no women went viral.

Campaign Brief is funded by advertising and a unique subscription model where agencies and production companies pay fees to submit their work and press releases to the publication. As a result of the backlash, The Clemenger Group of agencies, which includes Clemenger BBDO, CHEP, Colenso BBDO, Traffik, Redhanded Agency and Clemenger UnLTD.

A statement on LinkedIn said: “This is a great industry. But we can all do more to make it inclusive and supportive of the people within it. As part of this, we want to partner with organisations that encourage growth, positivity, and progression. For that reason, we’ll be ending our subscription with Campaign Brief and Bestadsontv.com”.

This double-page spread from the Campaign Brief feature attracted international backlash for featuring images of men and no women.

Campaign Brief owner and publisher Michael Lynch defended the feature and told The Australian, it was “reflective of the creative departments in advertising agencies” and issued a public apology to the industry.

In a bid to address agency dissatisfaction, Campaign Brief told The Australian it would apply a “much tougher moderation policy on comments to ensure more constructive and respectful discussions on our platform.”

A statement provided by the publication said: “Under this new policy, anonymous negative comments that do not contribute constructively to the conversation will no longer be allowed. However, anonymous positive comments will still be permitted.”

The move, which will commence immediately, aims to appease the industry critics who have labelled the feature as “sexist”.

An official statement from Campaign Brief said: “At Campaign Brief, we take the concerns raised by the community seriously, especially regarding gender representation in the advertising industry. These LinkedIn discussions have sparked important conversations about the lack of women in senior creative leadership roles, and we agree that this highlights a broader issue within the industry.

“While the list reflects the current makeup of leadership in creative departments, it is not an endorsement of the imbalance. We recognise the significant contributions of women across all sectors of the industry — whether in management, media, account service, or production — and fully support efforts to increase female representation in creative leadership.

“As a media platform, our role is to report on the industry’s reality, but we also recognise our responsibility to amplify conversations about diversity and equity. Moving forward, we will continue to shine a light on the work being done to address these disparities and support initiatives that drive meaningful change. We remain committed to encouraging a more inclusive and equitable industry for all.

“This controversy has made us determined to up our game and be more aware of important issues in our industry and make sure we do a better job representing the whole Australian advertising industry going forward.”

The Advertising Council of Australia released its own statement from chief executive Tony Hale regarding the gender representation in the industry. “It is immensely disappointing that we still need to have this discussion,” wrote Mr Hale.

“It has long been established that diversity and inclusion have been ongoing challenges for Australian advertising and if we are to ensure the long-term prosperity of the industry, we all have a role to create change. And that means everyone.”