New York Festivals International Advertising Awards announced the winner of the inaugural SeeHer Lens Award, a new award that honors best-in-class creative film work submitted to the 2021 competition that exemplifies gender equality and accurate portrayals of women and girls in advertising.
The SeeHer Lens Award is a partnership between NYF, The Female Quotient (The FQ), and the ANA.
“We are inspired by the entries from all over the world and it's clear that we are becoming a more conscious creative community. The ‘Let Her Run' creative powerfully amplifies SeeHer’s mission around the need for more accurate representation of women and girls in advertising and entertainment, including sports,” said Shelley Zalis, CEO, The Female Quotient, Co-Founder, SeeHer. “By sharing these messages on a global level, together we will create change.”
“Congratulations to the team that worked on this important creative,” added Bob Liodice, CEO, Association of National Advertisers (ANA). “We are so proud to be part of this festival, this new award and use this platform to share the important message for equality through superb storytelling in advertising.”
The inaugural 2021 SeeHer Lens Award winner “Let Her Run” is a compelling film created by Africa and produced by Santería Filmes for SporTV to bring attention to unfair and damaging restrictions placed on women by athletic federations. The winning entry illustrates the dramatic real-life sex testing in the 60s, called “nude parades”, that many female athletes went through to prove that they were really women.
Since May 2019, World Athletics, former IAAF, had set new limits of testosterone levels in female athletes. A hormone naturally produced by both men and women. They decreased the limits from 10 nmol/L to 5 nmol/L. IAAF Officials had decided that many women no longer qualify as female athletes. And that those girls should be on medication to compete. Sex Testing has had many faces since the 1930s, and it continues to cause psychological damages to girls that just want to run.
“We have a great responsibility to drive change. To inspire people. Equality is not inevitable, but a result of a tireless, relentless, and fearless hard work. This award is another step towards a better and equal world we all must fight for,” said Nicholas Bergantin, Creative Director, Africa.
“It's such an honor to be awarded in the very first edition of the SeeHer Lens Award. We really hope this award brings the changes to our society and industry that are needed," said Felipe Luchi, partner at film production company, Santería Filmes.
New York Festivals film entries were reviewed by over 100 members of the New York Festivals Grand Jury. Entries were judged by the SeeHer jury panel using the SeeHer Gender Equality Measure, (GEM®), the global industry standard for measuring gender bias (total and multi-cultural) in ads and programming. GEM® is used in 14 major markets around the world, representing 87% of total global ad spend, to create bias-free ads, content, media buys and media plans.
“It is no longer enough to only create an Ad; we must create change. As an industry that shapes perception, we have the responsibility to play an active role in making the world a better and more equal place for women. Thanks to The SeeHer Lens initiative for fueling this long overdue change in how women are represented in Ads,” commented SeeHer Grand Jury member, Mona Hassanie, Strategy Director, Wunderman UAE.
“The See Her Lens Award by the NYF has shown us what usually goes unnoticed. And our role as creatives should be to balance this equation and get women better represented in the ads," noted Marc Storino, Senior Creative Art Director, Havas London.
It is also worth mentioning that New York Festivals collaborated with graphic artist Rowan Shalit to create the 2021 NYFA “SeeHer Lens” Award logo graphic.
