Five things on Friday #388
It is women.
#388
Things of note for the week ending Sunday October 20th, 2024.
We’re meant to be going to see Piece by Piece at the London Film Festival tonight but a babysitter failure means you’re getting a newsletter instead.
C’est la vie.
How are you?
Last minute changes of plan aside, things have been hectic here (Again. In fact I wonder if there’s enough in the Five Things tank to get this edition out. I think there’s definitely enough for FIVE but we’ll see what’s left when we get to the bonuses shall we?). So much so we purposefully did nothing yesterday - and most of today. Lazy rainy days. Video games, pjs, blankets on the sofa. Perfection.
Silly season is around the corner and the weekends and week nights start to fill up quick.
As the sun sits low in the sky this afternoon, I’m reminded of the crispy sunshine cold mornings of Autumn - I am an Autumn baby and I am very much in season. Scarves. Gloves. The crunch of frost. Mist.
It gives me life.
Life that makes me grateful for what we have.
Life that makes me cuddle the kids.
Life that makes me cook all morning for a hearty long lunch (there’s the remains of a bolognese in the kitchen - it will do fine for dinner too I think).
V much needed.
The Mrs is reading the paper, the kids are building LEGO, and I’m writing to you. At the time of starting this edition, it’s 504pm on Sunday October 20th. Majical Cloudz - Downtown is playing on the sound bar and, well, why not do some writing?
So here we are.
This is your late edition of Five things on Friday.
I am very much James Whatley.
And these are your things.
I hope you like them.
—
THING 1. IT IS WOMEN
Nicola Kemp captures perfectly the fight, progress, the quiet resilience and magnificence that women take on with every single breath in our industry.
It is women who are changing the centre of gravity in the media industry.
It is women who are showing up, shedding outdated ideas, campaigning and collaborating.
It is women who are making organisations step up to their duty of care to their people, regardless of the personal cost.
Nicola’s writing is outstanding. Read it.
And then ask yourselves (and I’m talking to the men here) what are you doing?
Not just to lift up and support women but - and arguably more importantly - what are you doing to hold other men accountable?
Even as I write to you now, it is worth noting at this point that the Australian advertising industry is going through its own moment of change.
And about time too.
Their trade rag, Campaign Brief, published its list of ‘top creatives’ and it showed one woman (for Australia, none for NZ). Not a single man at Campaign Brief stopped to think ‘Hey, maybe this is bad?’ and, when they finally apologised, it managed to a) offer a great non-apology (it’s not our fault you’re all rubbish at this), b) blame Linkedin commentators for misunderstanding the list ‘ERR, YOU READ IT WRONG YOU GUYS‘ and c) offer absolutely no evidence on how it will prevent this in future (‘it won’t happen again’ they said, about an achingly obvious unconscious bias) - it’s a bold strategy, Cotton, let’s see if it pays off for ‘em.
But to call back to the title of this thing: IT IS WOMEN who are making changes down under.
My old boss, and one of the best CEOs I’ve ever had, Dani Bassil (and now CEO of Clemenger BBDO down under), here, showing how it’s done - change starts now.
Change starts with women.
It is women.
THING 2. THE WAY WE LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES IS NOT NORMAL
Your long-read this week.
Laying on the sofa, in a post-spaghetti haze, this piece bubbled up in my feeds and once I started reading it, I couldn’t stop.
Kirsten Powers’ excellent essay on why the way Americans live in the United States is not normal.
Kirsten has a point. She has many. And they’re made and underlined over and over and over.
The non-Americans among you guess most of what she has to say (capitalism, gun laws, medical cover, hustle culture) but the way the story is told is worth your attention.
I’m interested what you think of this one.
THING 3. THIS WEEK IN ANDREW GARFIELD
Come for the cardboard cut out, stay for the bespoke Valentino suit.
I am very much here for Andrew Garfield’s incredibly diverse press tour for On the most diverse press tour for WE LIVE IN TIME.
Three videos to watch.
First, your traditional ‘leads do something fun’ - for Ladbible.
Then, Garfield heads to Sesame Street to talk to Elmo about grief. Because of course he does.
And finally for this section (but highly doubtful for rest of the tour), the highly-anticipated Chicken Shop Date.
A few post-scripts.
PS. I've written to you before about how much I've got into Chicken Shop (and Amelia Dimoldenberg recently - her back story, her work ethic etc) but here's VULTURE on why we're seeing The Late Show show host of tomorrow appearing before our very eyes (this is v good - and we’ll be revisiting their prediction at some point soon, I’m sure).
PPS. But seriously, about that suit.
THING 4. THE POWER OF A GOOD RULE
The sub-head for this article is ‘Five things I’ve learned about artful rules from digital communities’ and I love the idea of an ‘artful’ rule.
But what is an artful rule?
Well, as the article states:
An artful rule protects what’s precious.
An artful rule draws helpful (and sometimes controversial) distinctions.
Artful rules are shared at the threshold, before anyone enters.
An artful rule thinks three steps ahead of the guest.
An artful rule is culture-creating.
The full piece rationalises each of these definitions - and I think this is one of my favourite things this week.
Long ago, when wrestling with some founders about what a good WFH policy looked like, I campaigned hard to move from a rules-based policy to something more akin to a values-based approach. One that trusts people to communicate, to keep promises, and to.. well, be adults. I lost that argument in the end but I still believe in it.
Looking back at it through this lens, I wonder if employee values could be repositioned as artful rules.
Food for thought.
Especially for the leaders of people among you.
THING 5. LITTLE BLUE
I happen to know a couple of people that worked on this but even if I didn’t work there, I’d still be posting this.
Jacob Collier - Little Blue, is utterly gorgeous. And well worth five minutes of your time.
Sometimes, some things are just beautiful.
BONUS SECTION
THIS IS THE BONUS SECTION. BONUS LINKS THAT BUMP US OVER FIVE THINGS BUT DUE TO TIMING AND SELF-IMPOSED WRITING RESTRICTIONS ARE LIMITED TO PITHY COMMENTARY ONLY.
ENJOY.
Here in the UK, Campaign Magazine’s Inspiring Women Awards has launched a bursary to cover the cost of entrance for 15 women. Side point: Campaign Magazine in the UK has a woman as its editor. It is women.
Another week, another banger Ritson article.
I went to the opening of Ogilvyland this week. The livestream failed and the organisers were apologetic. A shame - the lead up felt promising.
I don't know how this is news. As literally anyone who works in advertising will tell you.
I thought Transformers One would be terrible but we took the kids last weekend and it was actually quite good (The Guardian agrees with me). Shocked.
YOU ARE REACHING THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER. MIND THE GAP.
I’m signing off now.
It’s 1813 and I think this might be the fastest edition of Five things on Friday I’ve ever written (recently, at least). I hope it doesn’t show too much.
As productivity goes, this is up there with hitting the platinum on Astrobot (also among today’s achievements).
I’m off to play Monopoly now. Wish me luck?
And if anyone wants to see Piece by Piece at the BFI at 2040 tonight (Sunday), hit reply quickly - I’ve got two tickets going…
Until next time,
Whatley out x
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