ERA Coalition Launches ‘Woman Corp’ to Further the Fight for Equal Rights

After the overturn of Roe v. Wade in June, women’s rights have been at the forefront of many conversations, especially going into this year’s midterm elections. Taking a stand and a bold new approach in the fight for gender equality, the ERA Coalition aims to ensure that at least one woman will have constitutional rights moving forward.

To enact change and call attention to institutional sexism, the ERA Coalition, a political organization working to support the passage and ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, launched the fully incorporated “Woman Corp,” the first and only “woman” in America with rights that the government will fight to protect. Woman Corp was founded to raise awareness around the fact that the American government seemingly protects, and continues to expand, the rights of corporations, while the rights of women are continuously stripped away.

Developed by creative agency Ogilvy with additional support from BCW and GroupM, Woman Corp features a campaign that calls for people to take action through political engagement with their members of Congress, donations and sharing information on social media.

As part of the campaign, the ERA Coalition enlisted Stranger Things actress Gabriella Pizzolo to announce the launch of the new company in a three-minute spot, “Welcome to Woman Corp.” The spot opens with Pizzolo discussing how, as a newly legal adult woman in America, she notices the government’s preferential treatment of corporations over women, choosing to protect and support the former over the latter. The spot underscores how important it is to fight for gender equality, with Pizzolo stating, “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.’”

“The Supreme Court has expanded rights for corporations while taking away fundamental rights for women and people who can become pregnant. 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,” said ERA Coalition president and CEO Zakiya Thomas. “We need our government to stop playing politics with our rights and do better. It’s past time for the Equal Rights Amendment.”

Additionally, people are invited to join the staff of Woman Corp on LinkedIn by adding it to their work experience. The campaign is supported by a prestigious board of directors which includes Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, trial lawyer Benjamin Crump, award-winning author Ilyasah Shabazz, lawyer and Virginia State Senate candidate Jennifer Carroll Foy, Ogilvy’s Global CEO Devika Bulchandani, Kimberly Peeler-Allen of the Center for American Women and Politics and Mona Sinha of Equality Now. Pizzolo is also a member of the board.

Creatively fighting and supporting

Although many brands such as Planned Parenthood and Favor have continued to use their platforms to fight for and support gender equality, there is still a long way to go for women’s rights to be implemented and cemented. For agency Ogilvy, as a way to highlight the importance and impact of the lack of support for women, a more creative approach was needed.

“2022 has seen the undoing of years of progress that women have marched, protested and fought for,” Lisa Bright, chief creative officer for Ogilvy California, said in a statement.

“We wanted to blast a spotlight on the absurdity that while our U.S. government consistently defends the idea that corporations are ‘persons’—extending more and more rights to them—the rights and protections granted to women are going the absolute opposite direction. And it’s a shame we need to get so damn creative just to get equal rights and protections in this country regardless of our sex. It is imperative that we get the Equal Rights Amendment recognized in our Constitution so that we can put an end to the continued efforts to take away our rights.”

The three-minute spot, “Welcome to Woman Corp,” will be running across various digital and social platforms including the ERA Coalition’s YouTube channel.