Penis Swastika Logo?
This episode is NSFW... So ut the kids away for this one and cozy up with that fire. The boys are discussing:
- Slack's new Penis Swastika logo
- Accenture screws over CBP and taxpayers
- Glassdoor expands to New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong
- Gillette's new toxic masculinity ad campaign
- China's military problem: masturbation and video games
Your eardrums are going to need a thorough cleaning. Enjoy, and give our sponsors some love: Sovren, Canvas and JobAdX.
PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION sponsored by:
Announcer: Hide your kids, lock the doors. You're listening to HR's most dangerous podcast, Chad Sowash and Joel Cheesman are here to punch the recruiting industry right where it hurts. Complete with breaking news, brash opinion, and loads of snark. Buckle up, boys and girls. It's on for The Chad & Cheese Podcast.
Joel: This episode is definitely not safe for work. Let's get that out of the way right now. Welcome to the weekly episode of The Chad and Cheese Podcast, HR's most dangerous duo. I'm Joel Cheesman.
Chad: And I'm Chad not safe for work Sowash.
Joel: On this week's show, Ladders, the artist formerly known as The Ladders, takes innovation down to the bottom rung, Gillette shows off its softer side, and swastika penises.
Chad: What?
Joel: Yeah. You heard that right. You'll need to stay tuned to find out exactly what the hell we're talking about, but first, a word from our advertiser Sovren.
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Sovren: To learn more about Sovren AI matching, visit Sovren.com. That's S-O-V-R-E-N.com.
Joel: Boom. Yeah. It's about to get real up in this piece. Let's go to shout outs.
Chad: There it is. Michael B. Clegg.
Joel: Michael B. Shore Clegg, friend of Al B. Sure, I'm sure. Damn. See, I'm so fired up I'm jumping the gun.
Chad: Uh huh.
Joel: All right. Michael Clegg, longtime vet, stumbled upon the show, loves it. Michael, this shout out's for you.
Chad: Yes. Shout out for you. He actually tweeted back to us as we said thanks for listening. He's like, "Hey, dude. I meant that I love your show." Someone that's been in the industry for 20 years, like he has, he's now a business owner. He needs this type of content more than ever. Then, he actually said, "We dumped CareerBuilder last year."
Chad: So, I don't know that it was us who was responsible for him dumping CareerBuilder, if it was just CareerBuilder's antics and shit that they did, but thanks for listening, Michael. We really appreciate it.
Joel: Pretty sure if CareerBuilder was working for them they wouldn't dump them because of idiots like us with a podcast. All right. I'm going to to Ryan Gill, then
Chad: There it is.
Joel: I don't know even what to say. Dude has mad video interviewing skills. He's got a guy with a camera who's got mad skills.
Chad: Dabs. Yeah.
Joel: Anyway, I don't know. You and I did a video interview with Ryan talking about a variety of things, from starting companies and podcasts and success and kids and sex, and who knows what else we talked about.
Chad: Yep.
Joel: If you haven't checked that out, do a beeline to at least one of our social medias and check that out. Did he post it somewhere on their site?
Chad: Yeah. Well, they posted it on social media. It's called Linked Up. I don't know if it's weekly, but they do a ton of content, which is awesome.
Chad: I have to say this, it is a cinematic experience that everybody needs to see. These guys really pull together good video. Ryan's the founder of the gathering which we're actually going to go to here at ... In a few weeks in Banff, and also the CEO and founder of a new talent marketplace called Communo.
Joel: You know it's pronounced Branff, right? All right. Shout out to a Tengai. Did I pronounce that right for you?
Chad: Good job.
Joel: Tengai, and it's Elin not Ellen. Tengai unbiased video. Another video if you haven't seen this. They are coming to Death Match in Lisbon this year. They have this creepy-ass robot that I refer to as a cross between a Barbie hairstyle bus thingy.
Chad: Yes. Yep.
Joel: And the I-Robot robots from the Will Smith movie.
Chad: Yes.
Joel: Anyway, they're going to come. They did a video of the robot trash talking us, and it's fantastic.
Chad: Dude, it's awesome. TNG and their unbiased robot recruiter, they call, they named Tengai, yeah, it's definitely creepy. They created this acceptance video, which is fucking hilarious. Reposted it on Linkedin.
Chad: If you're not following The Chad & Cheese Facebook page, go follow that. It's on there. Also, Ryan's video's on there. Go and check it out. It is freaking hilarious.
Joel: I'm starting to get the sense that as more video gets produced we need to just embed this on the site and send people to the site to see these videos.
Chad: Yeah, that's probably a good idea. When I find some time I'll see if I can get that done.
Joel: Yeah. Yeah. Roll the dice, come to ChadCheese.com, and see if these videos are up on the site.
Chad: Something like that.
Joel: Shout out to [Roy Mower 00:05:17], our buddy at SHRM.
Chad: Yeah, Roy.
Joel: He wrote a story on recruiting ethics and asked us for our ... Thought we should cover it. My thought was, "Us give criticism or insight on ethics? How about how to be a asshole podcaster? We'll give opinion on that, but ethics for recruiting? I don't know. Go to Steve Levy for that."
Chad: We might pull a recruiter on maybe and interview them around that and give them shit around it, and that's how we podcast, but I don't know if we should actually be doing the story on that. That's awesome.
Joel: Vendor ethics, maybe.
Chad: Oh, that's a good call, yeah.
Joel: Yeah.
Chad: Audra Knight and Katrina Collier, thank you so much for having me on The Social Recruiting Show.
Joel: Did they have a head injury or something? Maybe have some bad
pizza?
Chad: They called this the 2019 bitch fest, so they thought I might be able to add into the bitch session, I guess, so who knows. I guess we'll check it out.
Joel: Well, if anyone's a little bitch that can bitch, it's you, bitch. Shout out for me to Jobiak, right?
Chad: Ya.
Joel: The site we've had on for Firing Squad. They put your jobs on Google for jobs. Anyway, they reached out to me for a quote about where recruiting was going to go in 2019. I gave them a quote.
Joel: They put me in this thing called 20 Recruiting Experts, or 20 Experts Giving Their Insight into 2019. Double shout out for not including you in the top 20 experts, because they know what they're talking about.
Chad: Yeah. No. They just know that you're a sucker and hat was easy to be able to say, "Hey, we want you to share our shit." You got Cheesman. He's a sucker. Good job.
Joel: Yeah, yeah. Sugarcoat it however you want, Sowash.
Chad: Big shout out to Michael Strahan for pulling together a lobster dinner for the NCAA national champs, Clemson, since they had to eat burgers and chicken nuggets and shit at the White House.
Joel: Yeah. More on that later in the show, but, yeah, Strahan stepped up and bought lobster dinners for them, I guess.
Chad: Yep.
Joel: A nice PR for him as well doing that.
Chad: Very much, very much.
Joel: I'm surprised. How did Ruth's Chris or Morton's or somebody not come out and be like, "Oh, we'll do dinner?" Why no restaurant took advantage of that?
Chad: Dude, I guarantee you they had no fucking clue. He likes what he likes, and he likes fast food. He's like, "Fuck it. That's what I'm going to eat, that's what they're going to eat." There was no invitation out.
Joel: No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm saying why didn't every nice restaurant in the country see that he bought them burgers and say ...
Chad: Ah, I see. Afterward, yeah.
Joel: Yeah.
Chad: Gotcha.
Joel: Yeah.
Chad: Yeah.
Joel: Why didn't Ruth's Chris come out and say, "Hey, we'll invite the Clemson Tigers down to wherever and feed them a nice Ruth's Chris steak dinner?" Nobody jumped on that. I was kind of surprised.
Chad: Probably because they'll take the sanctions they just dropped on Russia and then put them on Ruth's Chris. That's why.
Joel: Yeah. Yeah.
Chad: Anyway ...
Joel: They're all employing immigrant workers that will all be put on furlough, or something. Jesus.
Chad: Shout out to Monster for their new ads. I think they're still the 15 second versions. They are fucking hilarious. I don't know if you've seen these or not. Have you seen these?
Joel: Yeah. It's the basic same premise, like I'm going to get a job, no you're not, and then they're gone basically getting a job really fast.
Chad: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Joel: It's all mobile, which is good.
Chad: The copy's the same for every single experience, right? You've got a coder that's working right next to another coder. He's like, "Yeah, I found a job on Monster. I won't be here long." Guy's like, "Yeah, right." Looks back over and it's an entirely different person.
Joel: Yep.
Chad: Then you take it into an entirely different workspace. It's the exact same copy over and over and over in these different situations. It's fucking genius.
Joel: Chad likes comedy where he doesn't have to think too much.
Chad: Everybody does.
Joel: Yeah, I guess so.
Chad: Yeah.
Joel: Seinfeld. I'm done with shout outs. You done with shout outs?
Chad: Couple more I'm going to throw in [crosstalk 00:09:16].
Chad: Just opened ticket sales, so you definitely want to go to RecFest in London. Don't know. We might be there. TATech. Shit. We're going to be all over the place. We're going to be [crosstalk 00:09:27].
Joel: Yeah, we are.
Chad: [crosstalk 00:09:28] in Europe, and not to mention we're going to do a couple of TA Tech's here. One in Chicago for recruitment marketing, so all you recruitment marketers out there think about that one, and then Austin later this year for the big show for TATech. Check those out. Go to TATech.org, go to RecFest, and buy some fucking tickets.
Joel: The world is going to get very sick of us this year undoubtedly.
Chad: Sick of you [crosstalk 00:09:51].
Joel: [crosstalk 00:09:51]. Yeah. Okay. I love how RecFest tickets now available, like they're selling Woodstock or tickets to The Who like it's a big ...
Chad: Dude, it is a big fucking field right outside of London. It's supposed to be like a Lollapalooza kind of event. They start ... Even the bar's going to open at noon. It's going to be fucking crazy. I can't wait, man.
Joel: It's the Coachella of recruiting. That should be their little mantra.
Chad: Are we ready?
Joel: All right. Can we get to the damn show already?
Chad: Okay.
Joel: All right. Ladders. The artist formerly known as Ladders. By the way, don't go to Ladders.com because you'll actually go to a site about ladders.
Chad: Makes sense.
Joel: Even though they've changed their name, the URL doesn't work that way. You still have to go to The Ladders.
Chad: Yeah. From a marketing standpoint does that make any fucking sense? Why do I change my name to Ladders if my domain is The Ladders, knowing that people are going to search on Ladders and find ladders companies?
Joel: Well, Facebook used to be The Facebook and then they actually went out and bought Facebook.com to just be Facebook dot ... Just be Facebook.
Chad: Yeah. Right.
Joel: Now, if Facebook went to the Harvard students' directory we'd say that's the dumbest move in marketing history.
Chad: Yeah.
Joel: Ladders is no different. It's not as obviously big or influential as Facebook, but, yes. If you're going to change your name, go to the ladder guy who's got the URL and offer him some money, because you're so successful that you can actually own Ladders.com.
Chad: Okay. I digress.
Joel: There's a high price for ladders eCommerce, apparently.
Chad: Yeah, I'm sure.
Joel: Anyway, Ladders comes out with a press release this week. I get a lot of press releases and this one really stood out. Sometimes spammers will sort of regurgitate press releases from days gone by. I thought, "An announcement about [pay per click 00:11:51], maybe I missed that." Okay?
Joel: They announced that they're adding a pay per click solution to their job site. I go to the site and I'm like, "Maybe the date is from 2008, maybe I just missed this." No. It's a new announcement. Okay?
Chad: For pay per click?
Joel: For pay per click. Okay. From the release, this is a quote, "With cost per click Ladders continues to innovate to provide high-level talent acquisition in recruiting professionals with the right tools that attract the best and most active candidates." Is PPC innovation? Discuss.
Chad: No. There's no discussion behind it. I can't believe that they actually put together a press release.
Joel: Yeah, like an agency and everything.
Chad: Oh, so they had an agency. This wasn't just some intern that they said, "Hey, write something up about pay per click. We're going to put this shit out to see to see if it catches anybody."
Joel: Yeah. This is a tweet. This is like a, hey, head's up, we should've done this 10 years ago, but we're doing it now. We got pay per click. Thanks. No. Their agency got behind it, press release, everything, so it was a big deal.
Joel: Then I thought, "Well, maybe they're innovating in other ways," right? Given fresh eye. So, I go to the site. They have advertising options, so their advertising options are basically email blasts, sponsored posts, and everyone's favorite, banner ads. Remember leader boards and skyscrapers?
Chad: Oh, yeah.
Joel: They still got those at the Ladders. Nothing about AI, big data, [crosstalk 00:13:26], programmatic advertising.
Chad: Oh my god.
Joel: This was a really hilarious post for me to write and a news report that really, really made me laugh. Maybe we're missing something. Maybe we're not being fair, so let's just put it out there. Ladders, if you want to come on the show, tell us how you're innovating, tell us how you're kicking ass and taking names, you're more than welcome to come on and talk to us.
Chad: We'd love to have you, as a matter of fact. There's something beyond this press release. It probably should've been on the fucking press release, but if there is some insights beyond the press release we'd love to be able to hear it because that shit does not sound innovative at all in 2019. 2006, I could give you that, but today? Not even close.
Joel: Yeah. You and I, we had a good time reviewing the site for the show today. Things like there is no do it yourself job posting eCommerce functionality.
Chad: Yeah.
Joel: You can't just go on and post a job, which we're going back to the 90s for that kind of stuff.
Chad: Oh, yeah.
Joel: You actually have to put in your email and have someone contact you, which I'm sure is a nice little funnel for leads for them, but, anyway, yeah, the site doesn't scream innovation. If we're missing something, let us know, but otherwise this is just 2007 back to the future, making money the old way job site.
Chad: In the meantime, quit putting out stupid fucking press releases.
Joel: Yeah. The money that you're giving to your agency, hire some developers and make some real stuff. When you make some real stuff, people like us will talk about it and go, "Hey, that's pretty cool."
Chad: Yeah. You know what I would think is pretty cool?
Joel: Go check out the Ladders.
Chad: I think it would be pretty cool if ... Tell us how you go through the matching process of, or the courting process or being able to help from a negotiation standpoint, navigation, give us something new. This is old shit, right?
Joel: Sure. The business model is challenged. Let's be honest. When Ladders came out in 2003, whatever it was, if you put on 100K job every Tom, Dick and idiot applied to it. There weren't filtering functions, there was no way to pre-screen people and filter those folks out.
Chad: Well, you had to subscribe. Remember that, right?
Joel: Yeah.
Chad: That was the only filtering that you had is if you wanted to have a 100K job and above you had to subscribe.
Joel: Pay to play.
Chad: You had to pay to actually gain access to those jobs, which, to be quite frank, you could find them anywhere else on the web.
Joel: Yep.
Chad: It just made people feel special. You go in, you pay your little thing, and then, yeah, you're right, you can just hammer the shit out of anybody who's in the database.
Joel: Sure. 2008 happened and every job site went to hell for a while. In that meantime, profiles started getting put on websites like Linkedin. Everyone had information, and Github happened.
Joel: Now, if you need a high-level executive making six figures, my guess is most companies are going straight to the source and going to Linkedin or wherever. They're not probably even posting a lot of these jobs.
Chad: No.
Joel: To me, I don't even know how the business model works today with everything that has changed since when they first launched.
Chad: Yeah. You don't have to post those jobs. That's the big key, right?
Joel: Yeah, and if you do it's programmatic. The machines do it and find out where the best sources are. You can screen these folks and you can chat bot them up and find out if they're really qualified.
Chad: Yeah.
Joel: Yeah.
Chad: You let executive search take care of that shit.
Joel: Or there's that.
Chad: Yeah.
Joel: Yeah. That's expensive, but, yeah, you could do that.
Chad: Yeah. Well, it's expensive to get someone who's good and vetted,
right?
Joel: Quality ain't cheap, Chad.
Chad: No. Exactly.
Joel: But, bad, bad podcasters are a dime a dozen.
Chad: We're everywhere.
Joel: Exactly.
Chad: What about-
Joel: Well, I've said all I want to say about the Ladders.
Chad: Okay, well, what about good advertising campaigns as we flow and segue into the next one?
Joel: Okay. Well, we can debate whether this is a good ad strategy. You paint the picture. You're a big fan of this ad. You like it. Some people haven't seen it, I'm sure, particularly people overseas. Gillette, who historically has been a very machismo product, Gillette, the best a man can get. It's power suits and chiseled jaws in the shower.
Chad: Yep.
Joel: This is what we're used to. They did a 180 on their latest ad campaign.
Chad: Yeah. It's still behind the best a man can get, right? It just revitalized for 2019. The internet just lit up. People really ... Okay, so, men, really, they're going apeshit because this ad broaches toxic masculinity.
Chad: The ad in itself really it goes through mansplaining, bullying, dads saying the boys will be boys making everything all right, catcalling, aggressive types of behavior toward women. Then, it actually shows, which is interesting, Terry Tate, I can't remember his real name, but [Terry Tate 00:18:45] the actor who is testifying in Congress, saying that men need to hold other men accountable.
Chad: Then, the commercial shifts gears. Buddies and dads step into role models and show that that behavior isn't acceptable. The boys watching today will be the men of tomorrow. That was one of the big kind of role model lines in the ad.
Chad: From my standpoint I thought it was gold, especially that after Gillette did the Shakeem Griffin ad, the dude who has a disability, doesn't have one of his hands. He made it into the NFL, and telling that story. They're really getting behind storytelling and trying to change what their brand looks like.
Joel: I'm totally for the message and the movement that's happening in our world.
Chad: Yeah, me too.
Joel: Because we're the same age, you'll remember some of this stuff. A lot of it isn't new.
Chad: Yeah.
Joel: I remember growing up being told it's okay to cry. I remember growing up, and this is the 70s.
Chad: Yeah.
Joel: Turning the other cheek, right? There was actually a Kenny Rogers song about turning the other cheek and looking the other way, right? The message to me ... I think ... I don't want to say it's recycled and it's refurbished for a new era, but men being sensitive is not a new thing, at least from my memory growing up and this thing.
Joel: Now, where it's new is is when companies that are historically macho and they've built their brand on that men masculinity, that they're changing their brand. While I agree with the message, I'm really skeptical as to the brand pivot for Gillette.
Chad: Yeah.
Joel: To go from man's man, macho, power suits, hot women rubbing your cheeks, going from that to what they've gone to it's just a real risk with brand. For me, the bigger thing that ... The bigger problem they have is the trend of beards, as well as Dollar Shave Club.
Chad: Yeah.
Joel: Because I have to imagine those two things are a bigger blow to their business. I would've preferred from a marketing standpoint to try to tackle those issues than make a political statement.
Chad: Yeah. I think you're really shortsighted on this issue because I don't think that this ad was only focused on men.
Joel: Yeah.
Chad: Gillette also makes products for women, right? Yeah, they do, so therefore if you take a look at ...
Joel: No clue.
Chad: Well, I have a wife, and she shaves, so I kind of know these things.
Joel: Let's assume Gillette makes women products. Okay, gotcha.
Chad: No, they do. It's pretty simple. This is not just an ad that is focused on one segment just being men. Yes, it is speaking to men, but it's speaking to everybody. All those people could perspectively buy their products.
Chad: I did have somebody on Facebook actually say, "Great message, wrong messenger. Gillette is just doing this to look good." It's like, yeah, no shit. That's what
advertising and marketing and PR is about, right?
Chad: I think when it comes down to the brand, not just from buying something but also working there, so we also talk about employer branding, and wanting to be able to go to a company that's ... Really represents your values, right? It's not just about the product, it's about working for a company as well.
Chad: Being able to set this brand up overall I think is incredibly smart and real business. I understand that we're all in talent acquisition, HR, or whatever, but are we so divorced from real business that we can't understand the actual basics of brand? Because that's what this is.
Chad: Now, here's the problem, right? If Gillette is not focusing on equity then there's a serious problem. If their ranks and their positions are not flushed with equity with women, people of color, if the pay scale is not equitable, yeah, there's a huge problem.
Chad: That could actually create damage for that brand, but for everybody to be able to see a message like this, not just men, but everybody, I think it's awesome for their brand. Not just their product brand, but also their employer brand.
Joel: I certainly agree that for ... They're going to sell a lot more women's products because of the message, and I agree that from a recruiting standpoint this is going to open up a whole new sort of awareness of the company through a much broader spectrum of candidates. I think you've turned me on that. I think time will tell in terms of the
numbers of what this does.
Chad: Okay.
Joel: They're probably letting their ... They're ignoring their position of being the masculine product. Someone will probably come along and try to take that from them and hold that brand, because there is some value in that, right? There is. Men are still men.
Chad: They are.
Joel: [crosstalk 00:24:05].
Chad: I don't think that they're saying that men aren't. I think what they're trying to say is that we have a responsibility as men. Boys will be boys, right? We don't treat each other like that.
Chad: That was the big difference in the message. Where there are guys at grills, there's two boys are fighting. When the gears shift, one of the dads actually walk over. It goes from boys will be boys, which was an excuse to allow that kind of aggressive behavior, number one, to, two, hey, we don't treat each other that way.
Joel: Sure.
Chad: It's not masculinity. You're trying to throw this away as, well, they don't care about masculinity. That's total bullshit. What they're saying is we've evolved as a people, which we should, not all of us, and we should understand that we shouldn't treat other human beings like this, whether it's another guy or another female, right? It's a pure definition of what they believe masculinity should be.
Joel: Okay.
Chad: That's a great employment brand, by the way.
Joel: Yeah. Yeah. I think brand is what your customers say masculinity is, not what you say it is. So, we'll see.
Chad: Yeah. Yeah. This is coming from a guy who likes to fight, right? I enjoy it as a sport, but I see that.
Joel: Sure.
Chad: And I agree with it.
Joel: Yeah. You don't ... Yeah. Being a meathead does not automatically make you a catcaller and an idiot.
Chad: Yeah.
Joel: To me, masculinity is you're the opposite of that, right? Like, you're strong enough to honor people and be respectful and not hit people.
Chad: And don't get me wrong, I've mansplained shit before, right?
Joel: Yeah.
Chad: I've been put in my place. I've also ... I've been that dumb quote unquote masculine kid slash man. We all change, so I think this is a great opportunity to see a brand actually change and evolve and say, "You know what? You know what? That probably wasn't good when we did that shit back there." That's fine. Change your behavior and move on. Look forward.
Joel: Fair enough. Let's hear from JobAdX and talk about swastika penises.
Chad: It's a great segue.
Joel: We'll be right back.
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Chad: Penises? Really? That's what we're going from?
Joel: Swastika penises.
Chad: Oh, okay.
Joel: You got to throw that one in there, too.
Chad: Yeah. Yeah, yeah.