Over the last few years there have been a myriad of conversations around economic mobility, “talent shortages,” and efforts to create a more equitable workforce. Now, the Ad Council is launching a campaign from agency Ogilvy that shines a light on the skills and potential of the 70+ million workers in the U.S. who are Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs), rather than through a bachelor’s degree.
STARs make up 50% of the U.S. workforce, and they’ve built valuable skills through community college, workforce training, certificate programs, military service, or on-the-job learning. The “paper ceiling” they face represents the invisible barriers (like biased algorithms, degree screens, stereotypes, and the lack of alumni networks) that hold STARs back from upward mobility in their careers. By creating a movement to acknowledge this barrier exists, we can start to break it down.
"Tear the Paper Ceiling" is a landmark initiative led by the Ad Council and Opportunity@Work to change mindsets, transform hiring practices, and move more workers without college degrees into higher-wage roles. The initiative is supported by a coalition of 30+ nonprofits, talent developers, and businesses including Comcast NBCUniversal, Google, IBM, LinkedIn and Walmart.
This anthem PSA was directed by Gabriel Novis of production house Los York.
CreditsClient The Ad Council Michelle Hillman, chief campaign development officer; Dzu Bui, VP, group campaign director; Mary Zost, campaign director; Kayla Sykes, assistant campaign manager. Agency Ogilvy Devika Bulchandani, global president and CEO; Liz Taylor, global chief creative officer; Chris Beresford-Hill, president, Ogilvy Advertising, North America ; Anibal Casso, chief strategy officer, North America; Carina De Blois, president, New York; Menno Kluin, Marcos Kotlhar, chief creative officers, New York; George Sholley, head of production, North America ; Jeff Curry, global executive creative director ; Andrea Messer, Dinesh Kapoor, group creative directors; Jonathan Gibson, executive group director; Jess Ryle, producer; Grace Donahue, sr. art director; Gillian Goodman, sr. copywriter; Yung Lee, sr. designer ; Anna Fecskes, executive producer, experiential. Production Los York Gabriel Novis, director; Jeremy Snell, DP. Editorial Cut+Run Mah Ferraz, editor. Music Found Objects
We Are Pi Rolls Out Trailer For Nike-Backed Feature On Athletes With Olympic and Paralympic Dreams
Amsterdam-based creative agency We Are Pi debuted the trailer for Crois Pas Qu’on Dort (Don’t Think We’re Sleeping in English), an inspiring feature-length story of three young French athletes in the lead-up to the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics. The 90-minute French language film, which was developed and produced by We Are Pi with the support of Nike, will premiere in mid January 2025 followed by a release in theaters at the end of January. It follows three protagonists from Paris and its suburbs: Charles-Antoine, a runner with an intellectual disability who won Gold at the Tokyo Paralympics and is competing in this year’s Paralympics; and Leyna and Maysane, French twin sisters and heirs to their Laotian-Algerian family’s very own taekwondo dynasty who are coached by their father and dream of competing in taekwondo at Paris 2024. The athletes were followed by a film crew over the course of five years, recording how their stories, their lives and their sporting achievements unfold over time. The film combines the rawness and intimacy of their everyday lives with the audacity of their sporting dreams, with their stories culminating at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympics. Crois Pas Qu’on Dort was created with the aim of inviting a new generation of athletes in France into sport by inspiring them with the stories of our protagonists and the transformative power that sport had on their lives. The production began over seven years ago in 2017 with nearly two years of extensive casting sessions that involved viewing around 500 profiles of athletes. Two directors, Nick Walters and Lou Marillier, English and French, respectively, subsequently followed the selected young protagonists closely as they pursued their... Read More