I had decided at the beginning of this week that I wouldn’t blog about Super Bowl XLIII for several reasons:

1. It’s not really about technology, although you subconsciously looked at the logo on your TV at least 50 times
2. Everyone is writing about it
3. I’m definitely a fair-weather football enthusiast - the food and people-watching are typically the only reasons I go to a game

But, I couldn’t help myself when I read the article in AdWeek “40 Million Women Scorned”. A hail mary (sorry) for the writer Kristi Faulkner who almost perfectly portrayed my Sunday experience down to the commercial-break chili feeds for the men while the women were, yes, watching the commercials.

I agree with Ms. Faulkner that most spots overwhelmingly skewed male even though almost 50% of the watching audience was women. I take no issue with products that were created out of a potential male-targeted opportunity (Pepsi Max) as being testosterone driven in that creative is a requirement, there is certainly no room for being boring in the Super Bowl.

PepsiMax: Developed for men.

What I do take issue with is the Cars.com, Doritos, and Sprint creative, what strategist or creative team didn’t read the statistics showing the dominating female influence behind car buying, food and cellphones? I’m not suggesting that these need to be targeted solely to women, I do believe there is more androgynous messaging that most can relate to (and still be an award-winning Super Bowl spot). A good example of this is the Careerbuilder.com creative - completely relatable, witty, inspiring, and defined in their message - a real touchdown (sorry) to the agency behind this work.

Careerbuilder.com: Perfectly relatable.

But, why was this spot the only stand-out in my mind? Maybe because only 3% of creative directors are women? I’ve been in big and small agencies and even owned my own agency for a few years and have always believed it’s my job as a brand strategist to put the creative team in the targets’ shoes - but what if they’re stilettos? It took me years to walk well in high heels and then a few more to walk with confidence and a slight swagger. How can I expect a man to understand what it’s like to be a woman in an hour briefing? I have great respect for creative directors and I’m sure a few are able to understand “what women want”, but many think the opportunity to do a Super Bowl spot means swearing, naked women, cool fx and a possible Addy instead of the true opportunity which is connecting the BUYING target with the product.

Next time you are in a pitch with an agency and the 3 men in the room say “of course we know how to target women too” - ask them if they’ve ever had a bikini wax.

Enjoy your weekend.