CBS and the Association of National Advertisers announced that they will be supporting #SeeHer, an initiative designed to accurately portray all girls and women in media.
The announcement comes at a time when a growing number of executives in the entertainment business are being accused of sexual harassment and other improper conduct with women.
“This is a strong alliance that will use our many forms of media to generate awareness, education and hopefully change on a very important issue,” said Jo Ann Ross, President and Chief Advertising Revenue Officer, CBS Corporation. “In line with #SeeHer’s theme, ‘if you can see her, you can be her,’ we are passionate about showcasing respectful, authentic and powerful depictions of women and girls as we continue to promote diversity and inclusion through our programming.”
CBS’s initial efforts will show up in programming including The Talk in daytime and We Need to Talk on the CBS Sports Network. .Representatives from #SeeHer will meet with showrunners from several CBS primetime shows.
The network will also be producing #SeeHer tagged PSAs about notable women in history. They are schedule to run during primetime as part of Women’s History Month in March.
H “We are thrilled to be partnering with CBS to accelerate our #SeeHer movement and increase the accurate representation of women and girls in media through their multi-pronged programming opportunities,” said Bob Liodice, ANA CEO. “The united voice of marketers with programming is undeniably the most-powerful way to influence change, and as the largest group of united marketers in the U.S., we must lead the way. It is a moral and business imperative.”
Here are details of some of CBS’ activities supporting #SeeHer:
To kick off the partnership, CBS Sports Network’s We Need To Talk, the first nationally televised sports talk show hosted by all women, will feature a #SeeHer-branded segment with guests discussing how sports provide a platform to empower women during a live episode on Dec. 19 — We Need to Talk will air following the women’s basketball game featuring the University of Oklahoma versus University of Connecticut, as Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma pursues his 1000th win.
-To further tie into #SeeHer’s theme, We Need To Talk will host #SeeHer representatives and girls they are mentoring at this and future tapings, giving the #SeeHer group the opportunity to see women working on all sides of production, from the control room and onstage to on camera.
The mission and message of #SeeHer will be discussed on-air by the hosts of The Talk. Julie Chen, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, and Sheryl Underwood, who regularly chat about the importance of better portrayals of women in popular culture, will extend their support for the goals of #SeeHer.
“Whether through ad or programming content, media wields enormous power in society. Eliminating bias against women also improves advertising effectiveness, which drives brand growth. It’s the right thing to do for our culture, and a wise business decision for the network, the brands and ultimately the consumers,” concluded Stephen Quinn, chair, #SeeHer, former CMO Walmart and PepsiCo. “#SeeHer is a movement whose time is now.”
