A woman's pregnancy goes on for decades in this provocative ad highlighting Equal Pay Day

Spot from Brussels agency Mortierbrigade depicts what would happen if you waited to have kids

Published On
Feb 27, 2020

Editor's Pick

A new film from Belgium is highlighting Equal Pay Day in a very provocative way—it tells the story of a woman who waits until she's retired to give birth—literally.

The spot, by Brussels agency Mortierbrigade, starts out with the woman being pregnant apparently back in the '70s, facing comments from her male colleagues about not bothering to come back. So even when her waters break at work, she carries on with the job—and throughout the decades, as she ages, she continues to leak fluid all over the office, to the disgust and eventual resignation of her co-workers.

Finally, after having progressed up the career ladder, she retires and closes her office door for the last time, before going off to finally have her child. Without giving away any spoilers, the final scenes may have the more squeamish viewers cowering. 

The ad ends with the message that “women still have to choose between a career and a family." It aims to highlight that in Belgium, women still have to bridge a 24 percent wage gap before they earn as much as men—and that the arrival of children often curbs female careers because almost half of women (44 percent) end up working part-time, as opposed to around one in ten men (11 percent).

Credits

Date
Feb 27, 2020
Agency :
Mortierbrigade-Brussels
Partner & CEO :
Jens Mortier
Partner & Executive Creative Director :
Joost Berends
Partner & Brand Design Director :
Philippe de Ceuster
Creative :
Nicolas Gaspart
Creative :
Frederic Zouag
Head of Production :
Charlotte Coddens
Strategy :
Dorien Mathijssen
PR Manager :
Anne-Cecile Collignon
Social Media Manager :
Jonas Van Bael
Production Company :
CZAR.BE
Director :
Lionel Goldstein
Executive Producer :
Eurydice Gysel
Producer :
Lander Engels
Producer :
Maarten De Sutte
Producer :
Nele Carlier
Director of Photography :
Grimm Vandekerckhove
Art Direction :
Tanker
Editor :
Olivier Lambrechts
Post Production :
Czar
Post Producer :
Bieke De Keersmaecker
Grading :
Olivier Ogneux
Online :
Stijn Van Assche
Music :
Pregnant Women are Smug’ by Garfunkel & Oates
Sound Studio :
Raygun

Need a credit fix? Contact the Creativity Editors