Viacom Launches Campaign Backing #SeeHer Initiative

Viacom on Thursday launches a year-long series of public service announcements supporting the Association of National Advertisers’ #SeeHer initiative, which aims to show a positive portrayal of women in media.

The campaign is presented by sponsors including Johnson & Johnson Consumer and Unilever and will run on Viacom's flagship networks MTV, VH1, Comedy Central, Paramount Network and Nickelodeon plus CMT and TV Land. Spots from the sponsors will air adjacent to the PSAs.

The PSAs look to show young women that they can achieve their career aspirations and dreams and use the theme “if you see her, you can be her.”



The first spot shows a young woman in science class imagining herself someday in the White House helping the president avert a tragedy. A second spot, aimed at younger viewers, will air on Nickelodeon and feature female characters from the network including Phoebe Thunderman and Nella the Knight.

The vignettes were produced by Viacom in-house. Future spots will use other genres—including comedy and sports—to spotlight women in leadership positions.

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“Viacom has a strong legacy of creating and supporting issue-based content and causes that drive conversation and positive change,” the company said. “We are genuinely excited to continue to bring the power of our brands and the connection to our fans to the #SeeHer movement, a mission to more accurately portray all women and girls in advertising and media by 2020, the 100th anniversary of women winning the right to vote in the U.S.”

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.