Women equality. Ever since the 19th Amendment was passed into law in 1920, granting women the right to vote, the equality movement has evolved beyond just granting suffrage to white women into an intersectional fight for equality across class, race, sexual orientation, disability, and gender. However, almost 100 years later, the world still needs to be reminded that even with the right to vote, there are plenty of issues women face; with the end of the battle for equal pay still not in sight…

Worldwide, women’s salaries are 23% lower than those of men. Still, some companies are trying to battle this disparity – from a 10-year-old fighting for #EqualPay through conducting interviews, to pointing out to the fact that female painters are paid 47.6% less than male artists at auctions and thus should be selling only halves of their art. Or let’s take Swedish car manufacturer Volvo that’s trying to make their cars safer for all, even for the ladies. Yet, there are still absurd remains of the old days, just like a luxury tax on tampons as pointed out by The Tampon Book. The literary project aims to fight the ridiculous taxes that the state of Germany puts on tampons.

We could go on, but thanks to HBO and W+K NY we can have a look at these issues in one space. On August 26th, HBO is celebrating the Women’s Equality Day by highlighting the inequalities their characters face on-screen through modern versions of the cartoons popularized almost a century ago.

While working with Wieden+Kennedy, the popular network has come up with illustrations that demonstrate the persistence and evolution of these “issues women face in real life, the intersectionality of modern feminism, and the role that storytelling plays in the continued fight for women’s equality.”

In addition to the ‘cartoons’—created by a freelance illustrator from Brooklyn, US, Jeanne Detallante—HBO is partnering with notable female-founded companies, The Wing and Man Repeller, to help share and celebrate what these illustrations represent. While Man Repeller is hosting a gallery-style event to showcase the art, The Wing will give out posters, notebooks, tote bags and stickers with the exclusive illustrations on them starting Monday 8/26 at six of their locations (LA, SF, DC, Boston, Chicago, Soho/NYC.)

This Women’s Equality Day campaign is the latest instalment of HBO’s #BecauseOfHer initiative launched in 2018. Earlier this year, in March, the company introduced a physical space that was contoured to host the diaries of real women: The Inspiration Room. You can read more about the lovely campaign that serves as a public archive of women’s journals spanning from the 1800s to the present day here. The effort has been ongoing throughout the year with more activations like the Mother’s Day cards featuring some of HBO’s most notable female characters.

Credits:

Client: HBO
Project Name: Women’s Equality Day
Format: Illustration, Collateral
Client Contact: Jason Mulderig, Dana Lichtenstein, Matt Bataclan, Elizabeth Tillman
Launch Date: August 26, 2019

Agency: W+K New York
Executive Creative Director: Karl Lieberman
Creative Directors: Jaclyn Crowley, Sean Mclaughlin
Copywriter: Michelle Smith
Art Director: Amy Wheeler
Head of Art Production: Deb Rosen
Art Producer: Sabreen Jafry
Print Producer: Samantha Duncan
Studio Manager: Chris Kelsch
Studio Artist: Chris Thomas
Retouching: Chris Mcclelland
Account Director: Samantha Wagner
Account Supervisor: Lee Ford
Account Resident: Demornay Harper
Brand Strategist: Brian Ritter
Social Strategist: Leah Greene
Project Manager: Julie Knight
Business Affairs Manager: Michael Moronez
Public Relations Specialist: Sanam Shah

Illustrator: Jeanne Detallante