Outdoor ads should be G-rated

#927 for broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 20 Jul 2014.

It may be a marketing coup of sorts, but controversial Brisbane-based hire car company Wicked Campers, whose services are said to appeal mostly to young male backpackers, was this week widely denounced by media, public opinion, and in a motion passed by the Australian Senate, for its practice of placing misogynistic and demeaning slogans and images on its hire vehicles.

As Melinda Tankard Reist posted on her blog, the public backlash shows that “demeaning women to promote products is no longer acceptable and will hurt their business.”

The company previously ignored calls by the Advertising Standards Bureau to keep its slogans in line with community standards.  Family Voice Queensland state officer Geoffrey Bullock has demanded the Newman Government pass laws requiring all outdoor advertising to be G-rated.

You might think that too restrictive, but let me ask: what price is too high to protect childhood innocence?

I’m Rod Benson for the NSW Council of Churches.