50 years of men making decisions over women’s bodies: Saatchi & Saatchi marks anniversary of Roe v. Wade with new Pregnant Man ad

On the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a landmark decision made in the United States in 1973 granting the right to choose abortion, leading creative company Saatchi & Saatchi London has once again lent its iconic Pregnant Man advert to show support for women’s rights. 

In a frightening backward step, 2022 saw Roe v. Wade overturned, effectively removing the right to an abortion from the US constitution and placing it in the power of state legislatures. In response to comments made by US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, a long time opposer to abortion rights, Saatchi & Saatchi last year re-imagined its very first piece of work – ‘Would you be more careful if it was you that got pregnant?’, created in 1970 for the Health Education Council – imposing Alito’s face on the work and asking, ‘Would you be more careful with your vote if it was you that got pregnant?’.

To mark the 50th anniversary of a Supreme Court ruling that proved more progressive than that made by its 2022 cohort, Saatchi & Saatchi has given the ad a third iteration. Entitled ‘50 years of men making decisions over women’s bodies’, the creative goes one step further, this time showing the male judges who sat on the Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade as pregnant – including Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch – with Justice Alito front and centre.

Franki Goodwin, CCO, Saatchi & Saatchi says, “50 years would usually be a milestone to celebrate, but instead, we commiserate with all the women in the United States whose bodies have, once again, been ruled to be outside their sphere of autonomy. The Supreme Court has only appointed four female judges in the past 50 years, and the 1973 ruling was made by an entirely male court – and as such, the question of how men would behave, think or even vote if they were the ones who got pregnant is a conversation that is unfortunately as relevant now as it was five decades ago. We will continue to lend historic Saatchi creative to highlight this until change ensues.”

Source: Saatchi & Saatchi London

  Advertising, Agency, Marketing, Saatchi & Saatchi, Saatchi & Saatchi London, Women's Rights