#LaPizzaWeek Montreal figures women don't eat pizza anyway, so...

Despite the tagline "Everybody Loves Pizza," La Pizza Week Montreal has chosen to insult at least half of humanity with this poster.

The Italian headline translates literally to "this cock doesn't rub me," although it's a colloquial phrase that means "I don't give a fuck." Well, obviously.

Whether this piece of work offends your feminist principles, your creative sensibilities (as it's really awfully executed), or your love of Loi 101, you might want to let your favourite Montreal pizzeria know that their name is on this nonsense.

Update:

For what it's worth, I just spoke to the organizer who insists the image was posted without his permission and it's coming down.

— Toula Drimonis (@ToulasTake) September 18, 2017

More update: I had assumed it was stock, but the pic appears to be from a catalogue or something. Grossest thing is that the image is used in "pizzagate" posts.

KFC reminds moms that it's their job to cook. On #MothersDay

The idea is pretty cute: Kentucky Fried Chicken publishes a romance novella starring Colonel Sanders as a mysterious Victorian sailor.

Give Mom her true heart’s desire this Mother’s Day—a family meal and a romance novel featuring Colonel Sanders. pic.twitter.com/WHJNL9kRqn

— KFC (@kfc) May 4, 2017

It's funny stuff by Wieden + Kennedy. But there's a problem here, and it has to do with what "moms" are expected to do when it's not Mother's Day.

Let's hear it directly from the mouth of George Felix, director of advertising for KFC U.S.:

"...this Mother's Day, the bucket of chicken I get for my wife will come with a side of steamy romance novella. Dinner is taken care of and she'll have the time to escape her busy schedule."

Dinner's taken care of? That's great! Mom gets the night off from cooking for her family. Because that's what moms are expected to do, right?

I get that advertising isn't supposed to push social progress, but rather sell stuff. And KFC has been selling fried chicken as a "break for mom" since the beginning.



You get the idea.

Nonetheless, the dusty old ideas about family division of labour seem to work for the KFC brand, who claim a 40% jump in sales on Mother's Day.

Moral of the story? More men and children need to learn how to cook.

This eel-farming video would make a (not-so-) great PETA ad

According to The Irish Times, this video was made to promote the Japanese city of Shibushi, to promote its local eel farmers.

The male narrator... describes how he had vowed to do all he could to nurture her. “I fed her delicious food until she was full, and allowed her to get plenty of sleep,” he says.
Seconds later viewers are treated to a close-up of eel being cooked on a barbecue grill. “We take great care when farming our eels,” says the narrator.

Indeed! The video has since been withdrawn by authorities, but not before it caused an uproar online.

Well-founded accusations of sexism aside, I find it ironic. The concept of anthropomorphizing animals we eat is a common tactic used by PETA:

Either way, the image of women as pieces of meat is pretty unpalatable.

Thanks to KP for the tip!

Lingerie brand launches massive earned media campaign on sexist Calvin Klein Billboard

You've probably heard about this by now, as it's all over social and mainstream media. Calvin Klein is in trouble over a billboard that stereotypes women being focussed on seducing men, while men are focussed on making money.

The board's down now (according to the brand's PR "as part of the planned rotation of our spring 2016 advertising campaign"), but not before this happened:

The creator of the video is Heidi Zak,  CEO of lingerie company ThirdLove. That's right, a competitor of Calvin Klein's in the underwear industry.

While Ms. Zak is justified in saying that CK's ad is awful, what's interesting is that her brand is all over that video. And her Change.Org petition, Take Down Sexist Billboard In NYC. And the hashtag, #MoreThanMyUnderwear. And, of course, all the earned media.

In short, Ms. Zak has turned anger against a major brand into a highly-effective PR campaign for her own.

It's not surprising that marketers are riding the waves of social media outrage that result from tone-deaf ad campaigns like the CK one. In a way, this is a win-win situation for both CK and ThirdLove, as both are being talked about. CK gets to keep being credibly "naughty," as they have been since the Brooke Shields days. ThirdLove gets to champion the interests of "real women." And all it took was one insulting billboard.

Media may be getting more complicated, but the marketing strategies couldn't be simpler.

Honda dealership under fire for sexist rink ad

Image via Teri Pecoskie

Apparently, this is an ad that the Henley Honda dealership in  St. Catharines, Ontario, saw fit to put in front of the visitors' bench at the Meridian Centre, where the Niagara IceDogs play.

In Canada. In 2016.

Using sexism to troll opposing teams has a long tradition in sports, including painting visitors' locker rooms pink. But how regressive do you have to be to use feminine imagery to insult male athletes in the 21st Century? Especially as more and more women play, watch, and love hockey and other sports.

The advertiser didn't just make an honest mistake, either. This is how they reacted to criticism on Twitter:

The Protein World reference is telling. But while Protein World and Gourmet Burger Kitchen are brands appealing to a narrow demographic of young people, Honda is a major brand that depends on selling to all walks of life. For the Honda brand, sexism by a rogue dealer is simply bad business.

Thanks to Justin for the tip!

Update:

#HackAHairDryer wasn't the best way to break stereotypes about women in STEM

Oh, IBM. What were you thinking? In a fiasco similar to the European Union's ill-conceived "Science: It's a Girl Thing" video, IMB has been called out by actual women scientists and engineers for this video:

The Twitter response is at once angry, hilarious, and sad:

I code. But it's to mess around with salamander DNA sequences, not hair dryers. Minor details. #HackAHairDryer

— Cathy Newman (@cenewman0) December 7, 2015

I like makeup and hair care. I also like building robots. Guess which one I'd like to see @ibm promoting to women? #HackAHairDryer

— Randi Lee Harper (@randileeharper) December 7, 2015

Tell this woman to #HackAHairDryer - I dare you. pic.twitter.com/vkr4PHARzj

— Miles Kurland (@Malacandra) December 7, 2015

@IBM shame I don't use a hairdryer. I guess that's the end of my career in STEM. Brb quitting my astrophysics PhD. #HackAHairDryer

— Jessica V (@ThatAstroKitten) December 7, 2015

Here's to every woman at @IBM who tried to stop #HackAHairDryer but wasn't listened to

— Shannon Turner (@svt827) December 7, 2015

Are we #womeninstem going to get a 'mea culpa' apology for the patronising #HackAHairDryer nonsense, @IBM?

— Dr Mel Thomson (@DrMel_T) December 7, 2015

According to Business Insider, IBM has declined to respond.

UPDATE: It's been pulled.

Is the boy in the Moschino Barbie ad a leap forward?

That wasn't a rhetorical question. While I applaud gender diversity in a traditionally female toy category, the portrayal of the boy seems a little... umm... stereotyped?

FRIDAY IS FIERCE LIKE #MOSCHINOBARBIE

A video posted by Jeremy Scott (@itsjeremyscott) on Nov 20, 2015 at 5:00pm PST

Not that there's any problem whatsoever with implying that the little boy is gay, but did they have to do it with such a cartoonish cliché?

People seem pretty happy with this development (at least the Buzzfeed set) but I'm not sure this is as progressive as it seems. The idea that Barbie is an obsession for gay men is not exactly new, nor is the conspicuous presence of gay men in the fashion industry.

Making the only male character in the ad a miniature Jeremy Scott is a big wink to insiders, but what is it doing to transcend stereotypes? Heterosexual — or less stereotypically gay — boys who want to play with dolls in this sexist, homophobic world won't be helped by this stereotype. They might even be hurt by it.

France 3's sexist boast about its hiring of women

Most of TV network France 3 on-air talent are women. Great!

But what was not-so-great was how they chose to communicate their pro-woman hiring practices:

That's right! Because they hired all the women, nor cooking, cleaning, ironing, toilet-seat-putting-downing, or dog walking is getting done.

In their attempt to look anti-sexist, France 3 brought back some of the worst anti-Suffragette memes from a century ago.

9 News reports that the negative reaction to this ad went all the way to the French government, with Secrétaire d'Etat chargée des Droits des Femmes Pascale Boistard Tweeting that the ad “does not seem like a good way to promote professional equality."

It has since been pulled by the network.

Bic South Africa fails hard for women's day

Via Twitter

August 9 was National Women's Day in South Africa, and Bic SA's social media team tried to share an empowering captioned image. The only problem was, it wasn't really empowering at all.

Reaction was swift and sharp, including this hack:

Twitter

The problem is obvious. "Think like a man" is hardly celebrating women's equality.

I'll hand it to Bic, however. They did take it down and issue a proper apology.

From Facebook:

Hi everyone. Let’s start out by saying we’re incredibly sorry for offending everybody - that was never our intention, but we completely understand where we’ve gone wrong. This post should never have gone out. The feedback you have given us will help us ensure that something like this will never happen again, and we appreciate that.

It still shouldn't have happened in the first place, but at least it opens a helpful conversation. Especially for an international brand with a bad history of gender stereotyping.

Magnum's attempt to raise women's "self-esteem" is not helping

This is one from my backlog of reader-submitted content. Rachel P, who lives in Spain, sent me this Twitter ad from Magnum ice cream bars. She translates the headline as "how to raise a Spanish woman's self-esteem."

Yeah, ice cream, stiletto heels, and jewellery. That'll do 'er. Because feminism is so 20th Century.

Here's the Tweet:

¿Cómo disfrutan del placer del mejor chocolate helado las mujeres españolas? Descúbrelo aquí: http://t.co/FdrmsywrwL pic.twitter.com/QiGSCmbHYD

— Magnum (@MagnumSpain) June 19, 2015

It says, roughly, "How do Spanish women enjoy the pleasure of the best chocolate ice-cream?"

Magnum, a Unilever brand, is no stranger to controversial ads. Marketing primarily to women, they seem to have no problem insulting them with stuff like this. Tiresome.

Another outrageously sexist London Underground ad

via @JenniTrimlett

It seems to be the latest fad in transit advertising: 

1. Make outrageously sexist ad2. Revel in the attention3. Profit

 Why else would advertisers continue to post this rubbish, if not to get a reaction?

via @ella_sharp1

This campaign, as I saw it on Mirror, isn't "edgy" or clever; it's just more deliberate denigration of women for eyeballs and clicks.

So why am I contributing to the problem, by sharing it here? Because we need to change the conversation about this kind of advertising, and the public spaces it pollutes. This is especially timely because Transport for London has banned other ads, such as one for the play My Night With Reg,  and another for a Royal Academy of Arts exhibition on Lucas Cranach the Elder, because of artistic nudity.

This prudishness about the human body, combined with a "lad-mag" lack of sensitivity about gender issues, leads me to believe that Transport for London's advertising department is run by elderly men who have not been allowed to receive any other contact from the outside world since 1975.

I won't even talk about the brand behind these stupid ads. They're not worth my time or yours. But Transport for London needs to smarten the hell up, and develop some 21st century ad standards.

German smoothie company tries unrepentant sexism as a marketing strategy

Image via Adland

Adland recently made me aware of a marketing controversy in Germany. Apparently, this smoothie's packaging makes fun of its unappetizing design with the following:

"Limited No 6 - Black Edition. Have you ever helped an ugly female friend -- who's a really nice person on the inside -- get a date? That's how we are feeling with our smoothie here which might be the tastiest we have ever made but who doesn't get the love it deserves because of its looks. We saw no other solution but to turn off the lights so you can fully embrace its inner values."

A sexist joke is always good for some outrage earned media, and that's exactly what has happened, as well as the inevitable "have a sense of humour" defence.

Personally, I can't even work up outrage over this one. It is a cynical marketing move designed to rack up social mentions.

Brave? No, just tiresome.

Selling a bicycle race with a sexual assault joke

The Guardian's Suze Clemitson reports that an infamous sexual assault on the podium of the cycling event in 2013 has been parodied in a poster for the E3 Harelbeke race in Flanders.

The poster, apparently, reads “Who squeezes them in Harelbeke?” Har, har, har.

Meanwhile, assault victim Maja Leye, a "flower girl" who was groped by a man named Peter Sagan as she planted a traditional kiss on the cheek of Tour of Flanders winner Fabian Cancellara, says she was "frozen to the spot” in shock, and struggled not to react to avoid further embarrassment.

The problem with the poster, obviously, is that it communicates that unwanted sexual touching is a joke, and shouldn't be taken very seriously.

Ms. Clemitson reserves her most potent ire for the unknown agency behind the creative: "They’re like a bunch of little boys giggling at a glimpse of boob or arse, virtually masturbating over the idea of their campaigns going viral."

Well, here's your international attention, guys: You're assholes.

100 robotic humans vs. 100 humanoid robots

First off, I want to mention how ultimately icky this Flavorstone frying pan ad is. (By  Dentsu, Tokyo, via Ads of The World.)

I mean, the choreography is impressive, but 100 young women in short-skirted maid outfits, all working to satisfy some old guy's weird fetish? Not exactly progressive:

And then, coincidentally, Mashable just recently posted this:

So there you have it: 100 humans vs. 100 robots, battling for your viral attention. The humans have sexual objectification on their side. But then again, the robots do not.

Using tired "beer goggles" clichés to sell taxi service

Via Daily Mail 

You know, we advertising practitioners really should adopt something like the popular conception of the Hippocratic Oath, starting with the words, "First, do no harm."

We're here to represent our clients, but we are also contributing to the language and imagery of popular culture and media. When we create something that gets attention by promoting stereotypes — or worse — unearned scorn towards our fellow humans, then we are being irresponsible.

Via Daily Mail 

These bar ads, by West Quay Cars taxi company of Southampton, UK, are an example of this. They use the hackneyed old idea of beer goggles to imply that this large woman and tacky man are unworthy of love.

Note the difference. The man is a cartoonish stereotype of a disco-era lounge lizard. The woman, on the other hand, is mostly implied to be unattractive because she is fat.

The Southampton University Feminist Society wrote an open letter to the advertiser, stating:

This advert is a form of body policing and an example of fatphobia. It is making fun of someone because of the way they look. This objectifying, judging lens is something we are well aware of in the media, for both genders, but especially for women. Therefore seeing the female version of this advert by itself, as it first was, some members branded it sexist. It was only later that the male version was posted. Members immediately voiced their dislike of the male version also, noting again that it was an unacceptable form of body-policing.

The company issued the standard non-apology:

"We apologise for any offence that may have been caused by either of the posters,” manager Lee Haynes told The Tab. 

"We recognised that the campaign may be controversial, but in our opinion, our obligation to try to reduce the amount of lives devastated by drink or drug drivers ever year was overriding. 

"We refute the claim that either our advertising or West Quay cars as a company is sexist or discriminatory in anyway.

They mentioned that 16 of their staff of 22 are women.

I'm sure that some of their best friends are also Black.

Related: The goggles do nothing (Osocio.org)

PETA's latest assault on the dignity of humans

Adland

You know the drill:

1. Post offensive, sexually provocative ad
2.
3. Save animals

Or at least that's how it goes in the minds of the people behind PETA ads. They seem to be under the impression that there's "no such thing as bad publicity." Well, there is.

If you're a feminist, and you support this organization, you are suffering from something called "cognitive dissonance." Look it up. And make a decision as to whether promoting veganism by degrading humans is really OK with your human rights beliefs.

I won't comment further on this garbage. "Dabitch" at Adland already explained it all.

Esquire's guide to buying your way out of the "friend zone"

The "friend zone" is a myth, but it's a powerful one. It's a fantasy created and maintained by boys and men who think they have been unfairly denied sexual access to a woman who — as far as they're concerned — should be interested in them physically but isn't.

Other people have written about how problematic this myth is. It's based on some pretty primitive ideas about sexual relations, such as that "nice guys" are tragic figures who women take for granted and that women are possessions to be won. Articles about "how to get out of the friend zone" are even more insulting to women, suggesting manipulative tactics straight out of the "pick-up artist" handbook.

Enter Esquire's "THE DO'S AND DON'TS OF DRESSING TO GET OUT OF THE FRIEND ZONE" an advertising feature that tells men the best way to convince those selfish vagina-hoarders (aka "women") that their own feelings and agency have nothing to do with who they are attracted to.

It's really just a matter of buying the right clothes:

That's right, lads: For just a $350 investment, you could turn that "no" into a "yo". Who could resist a man in this shirt? (Truth be told, it's making me question my own sexuality. And I'm not even friends with expressionless Beard Guy.)

It's nice to know that all those dry spells could have easily have been solved with $500 worth of shaving gear. What was I thinking? The friend zone doesn't stand a chance against a good shave. (Don't tell Beard Guy!)

One of the more affordable ways to show her that you only hang out with her for possible sex.

I'll have to admit, I used stinky stuff as a teen. I didn't know it was still a thing. (Hope she's not allergic.)

I had no idea that not being trendy was so expensive. But if these not-at-all trendy jeans make her think about getting me out of them, take my money! TAKE IT!!!

Bwahahaha!

No, really? It's $3,500 worth of "Look, I know you said I wasn't like those other guys, but I kind of am. Just much, much worse."

What is that even, and how will it help me convince this woman that friendship is just the gentleman's prelude to banging?

Because actually putting yourself in her shoes is way too much to ask.

"So, Madison, you don't think he's kind of cute?"

"You know the rules, Dakota. I'd be all over him, but he wears boring sweaters. So I think I'll spend a lot of my valuable time with him, and tell him all my thoughts and feelings, but withhold my sexual favours until he gets better fashion sense."

Wear your edgiest shades when you meet her, and when she asks to try them on know that she's starting to come around to you. 

(I didn't write that, BTW. It's actually in the article!)

This scarf says one thing, and that's "our friendship feels like a consolation prize".


The author disagrees with me that this article is regressive, creepy, PUA bullshit. But it's time to put this "friend zone" nonsense to rest.

If a woman is not interested in you sexually, your job is to respect her feelings. If she wants to be friends with you, that is not an invitation to spend your time together trying to manipulate her into giving in to your advances. It means she actually wants to be your friend. Or at least let you down easy. (You'll know soon enough.)

If you don't get that women's friendship is valuable in itself, then no amount of shopping can make you less of an asshole.

Montreal cinema owner inflames Twitter with "Hockey Widow" promo

If there's one Canadian stereotype that has a strong basis in reality, it's not weird pronunciations of "out" or niceness — it's an obsession with hockey. The game is deeply rooted in our culture. While not every Canadian is a hockey fanatic, it's safer to assume a Canadian has a favourite hockey team than a favourite type of poutine.

Which makes it all the more baffling that a cinema chain in Montreal, "the Mecca of Hockey," would so casually insult female Habs fans by running a women-only promotion for "Hockey Widows" on game nights.

The CBC has compiled a collection of Tweets about the issue, including cinema owner Vincenzo Guzzo's defensive non-apologies.

@HamJam_9 Where is the insult? She isn't naked or in sex cloths or mopping the floors or doing other steriotipical BS thing that we see...
— Vincenzo Guzzo (@Guzzo_Vincenzo) October 14, 2014

@JessRusnak Wanted to reward women. Anything wrong with giving a benefit to women only? Maybe Senior discounts should also be given to all!
— Vincenzo Guzzo (@Guzzo_Vincenzo) October 14, 2014

Oh well. Canada's women's national ice hockey team has won gold in the past four Olympics, and is one of the winningest teams in history. So I guess it will take more than a sexist local cinema promotion to turn Canadian women away from the game.

This Harmon Kardon "ad" is just nasty

Sometimes I look at an ad and think, "why did the Art Director even think of this?"

The weird oral-foot-fetishy violence of it aside, there's no game going on and nobody in the stands. So why would anyone be bothered by their cheers?

I'm guessing that this is another example of a vanity ad, not actually appearing in any paid media or necessarily approved by the client, submitted for creative awards shows. Sad.

Two other executions include a dog with its head up its ass and a musician with his head up his sousaphone.

yandy.com launches its annual Halloween viral outrage earned media campaign

This year's earned media campaign leads with Huffington Post's coverage of the "Sexy Deadmau5" costume. I'm contributing to their marketing as well, just like I did in 2011, 2012, and 2013.

Let's be honest with ourselves: Outrage is the currency of social media. Marketers offer up new outrages with every passing season, and we predictably rage about it to anyone who will hear.

Sure, the advertiser will take some heat, but the people who will get angry with yandy.com and their ilk are not the ones buying "Sexy Mario" or "Sexy Racist Native American Stereotype" costumes. And the negative publicity will just add to the edginess of choosing to go to a party dressed as a sexualized teenage private school girl.

It's a win-win clickbait strategy for sleazy marketers and internet social justice warriors alike. And girls lose. Like always.

I'm sorry. Feel free to lament my hypocrisy below: