Oscar Mayer uses wiener jokes to highlight gender bias at the Oscars

The 94th Academy Awards, set to air on ABC on Sunday March 27, are facing more than just steep ratings declines. 

The Oscars have been fervently called out in recent years for its lack of diversity, starting with the #OscarsSoWhite movement in 2015. 

Seven years later, male directors are still 46 times more likely to win an Oscar than female directors. 

Meat and cold cuts brand Oscar Mayer made its stance on the Oscars’ gender disparity issue clear on Wednesday with a new campaign by Ogilvy called “Keep it Oscar.” The out of home campaign uses strategic placements around the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles to make a statement about the eponymous award show’s continued lack of gender inclusion. 

Posters outside of the theater inform passersby with facts, such as “You’re 46 times more likely to take home a director win if you have a wiener.”  

The brand’s iconic Wienermobile trucks will also drive a 5-mile radius around the theater all weekend with similar bold and cheeky messaging. A call-to-action reads: “See what we’re doing about it @OscarMayer.”

The campaign will be amplified on social media, where Oscar Meyer will post about its commitment to hire people who identify as female to create at least half of its video content in 2022 and beyond.

“The lack of inclusion among female directors in Hollywood is startling,” said Abby Allsop, Oscar Mayer’s senior brand manager of brand communications. “The truth is, gender disparity is a longstanding issue — not just in Hollywood, but worldwide. We hope to provoke conversation to drive meaningful change.” 

In the more than nine decades of the Oscars, the Best Director statuette has only been given to two females — Kathryn Bigelow in 2010 for The Hurt Locker and Chloe Zhao in 2021 for Nomadland. Only four other women have even been nominated for Best Director.

“As the expert on wieners, we felt the need to speak up in our quest toward a more inclusive world, which sparked an extensive brand renovation that debuted our new ‘Keep it Oscar’ platform, rooted in inclusivity and representation at its core,” said Allsop.