Advertising Week (the annual industry gathering, not to be confused with our sister publication Adweek) has faced charges of sexism in the past.
Way back in 2005, for example, the org encountered a problem stemming from this ad, created pro-bono by DDB New York to promote the event:
There was a bit of a scandal, of course, though Executive Director Matt Scheckner and others defended the work at the time. It was awkward given the fact that the organization’s stated reason for being is to improve perceptions of the advertising industry.
It would, however, seem that the org, and Scheckner in particular, still have media relations problems based on a (supposed) interaction this week with Brooke Hammerling, founder of New York-based PR firm Brew Media Relations.
Hammerling took issue with Scheckner’s behavior in a recent exchange:
In my 20 years in this biz I have seen a lot of men treat women badly. But never have I seen behavior like @lordscheckner. #shameful
— Brooke Hammerling (@brooke) April 15, 2015
The context of the back-and-forth was unclear, though we can surmise that Hammerling and her team were contacting Scheckner regarding a member of their client list (which includes a fair number of tech brands).
Seems Scheckner didn’t take kindly to the pitch:
Sorry i was busy responding to his aggressive email. He was abusive to team members, called them names, laughed at them, hung up on them.
— Brooke Hammerling (@brooke) April 15, 2015
But he wanted us to know how important he is b/c he has “SALMA FUCKING HAYAK “(@salmahayek) speaking at his event. #classy
— Brooke Hammerling (@brooke) April 15, 2015
He told my team “you cannot talk to me. I am the NFL and you are Division 2 College football”. I agree. He is the NFL. #classy
— Brooke Hammerling (@brooke) April 15, 2015
Again, some context would be helpful. But Scheckner does appear to be a fan of Deutsch’s recent work for Sprint:
He’s not sexist though as he just told me in email he would laugh at me if I were a goat. Nothing to do with me being a woman. #IAMAGOAT
— Brooke Hammerling (@brooke) April 15, 2015
Hammerling has not yet responded to a subsequent query.
But it’s nice to know that, contrary to prevailing opinions, the ad industry is no longer run by middle-aged men who have problems relating to women in professional settings.
Not that advertising and PR will ever truly get along…