KesselsKramer

KesselsKramer is an independent ad agency established in 1996, it is based in Amsterdam and has offices in London and LA. Its ad campaigns have been very notable including 'The Worst Hotel In The World' for Hans Brinker Budget Hotel in Amsterdam and 'I Amsterdam' done for the city. 




A lot of their work focuses on highlighting important issues such as the gender pay gap. 



Did you know that men earn 300,000 euros more than women over the course of a lifetime? 

Since 2004, Dutch foundation WOMEN Inc. has been on a mission to increase opportunities for women in the Netherlands. As of 2013, WOMEN Inc. decided to focus on a theme vitally important to women: the pay gap between genders. To draw attention to this, KesselsKramer produced posters calling attention to the fact that men earn 300,000 euros more than women over the course of a lifetime (photography by Isabelle Wenzel). At the same time, we stimulate women to find out what they’re worth with an online test. Take the test here

In the next stage of the campaign, we created an online film together with Margôt Ros and Maike Meijer, known from satirical Dutch television program Toren C. In the film, Maike and Margôt go to extreme lengths to close the gender pay gap.

In addition to address women directly, we also call on Dutch politicians to take their responsibility to place the pay gap between genders on the political agenda. That’s why we came up with a stunt to let politicians experience how large the pay gap actually is and feels by placing a bath filled with €300.000 euros in front of The House of Representatives in The Hague.

The campaign is very positive and draws attention to the fact that women earn less than men which is a really important issue in todays society. The images focus mainly on the female body and highlight the curves of bottoms and elongated legs which poses the question if this is meant to be a campaign to empower women and make them equal, why is the focus on their body? 

The images have been shot in a vintage style which suggest they are from the 1940's/50's, a time where women weren't respected and didn't have the same rights as men. All the women in the pictures are wearing skirts as this was normal for that time period, women who wore trousers were seen as masculine, wearing trousers was a sign of rebellion. The campaign is clever as it reminds us of the not so distant past and questions if we have really changed since then? Women may have gained a little more respect and have more say in what they wear and how they choose to live their lives but this pay gap suggests not much has really changed. Women are still not valued as much as men.