ERA Coalition created a 'Woman Corp' to prove that corporations have more rights than women

In a satirical new video from a coalition of WPP agencies, the Equal Rights Amendment Coalition (ERA) draws on a “Stranger Things” actress, Dolly Parton and even plastic testicles to make a serious point: Women in this country have fewer rights than corporations.

The absurdist ad stars Gabriella Pizzolo, who plays the character Suzy Bingham on the Netflix series, which begins “As a newly legal adult woman in America, I got to say, it’s not awesome here. You see, I was under the silly impression that as a woman, I had the same rights as men. But it turns out that for the last 100 years, women have been trying to get the Equal Rights Amendment recognized so we can be protected equally under the Constitution, but our government is always like ‘Lol, no thanks.’”

Her solution? To create a corporation named Woman, so that there will be “one woman in America that the government will fight to protect because it’s a corporation, and not a woman.”

Throughout her journey in the 3-minute video, Pizzolo interviews a “legal scholar” who confirms that gas stations, European wax chains and even the companies that make “truck nuts” that hang from pickup hitches and rearview mirrors have more rights in the country than all women—including American treasure Dolly Parton.

After forming her corporation, founded in “years of oppression and deep, deep institutional sexism,” Pizzolo urges viewers to call their senators, “because this is fucking bullshit.”

The ad, created by Ogilvy with an assist from BCW and GroupM, hits during the midterm elections and in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. “The Supreme Court has expanded rights for corporations while taking away fundamental rights for women and people who can become pregnant,” said ERA Coalition President and CEO Zakiya Thomas. “At the same time, our politics are so polarized that members of Congress refuse to acknowledge that women are equal to men and should have equal protections under the law. This is ridiculous and embarrassing.” 

Ogilvy Global CEO Devika Bulchandani is on the board of the ERA Coalition and foreshadowed the campaign last week when she was honored at the Matrix Awards. “We all stand here today to give young women a seat at the proverbial table but the biggest gift we could give them is a place in the Constitution. We are the only democracy in the world where women are not given the same protection as men.” She added: “It is damn time we made it a reality.”