The ‘Women Interrupted’ app launched by Sao Paulo ad agency BETC last week, runs a microphone on your phone to analyse conversations and calculate the number of interruptions that occur.
BETC’s press release launching the app labelled ‘manterrupting’ as “one of the many kinds of violence against women”. It said the purpose of the app is to generate more awareness and debate regarding the phenomenon.
BETC founder and co-CEO Gal Barradas said that while ‘manterrupting’ may seem like a small problem, it “reflects deeper issues of gender inequality at work and in society. The app is a way of showing that in fact, the interruption is real and alarming.”
Barradas might personally know this first hand, as the only woman represented in the leadership of Brazil’s ten ‘most admired advertisers’.
BETC adds that while the app can be used in any environment, it had professional meetings and corporate workplaces in mind.
The app can be downloaded on Android and iOS systems, and is available in four languages. It asks users to record and calibrate their voice in order to accurately identify interruptions. It does not store recorded conversations.
The ad agency plans to later launch a Global Dashboard sharing an overview of ‘manterruption’ data collected all over the world, in real time.
BETC is a vocal supporter of workplace gender equality, having seen its leadership shared by both a man and a woman since its foundation. It also boasts a 50/50 gender split board and claims to have no gender pay gap.
Watch the video promoting the app below.