• commentary
  • THURSDAY AUGUST 16 2007 4:00 PM

Women's Bodies: Awesome! What Happens to Them: Offensive!

Submitted by Bitch_PhD

Edited by Bitch_PhD

Tags: advertising, abortion



Clearly, the above billboard is completely awesome, and if I lived in Manhattan, I would go store all my shit with Manhattan Mini Storage. If I had no shit to store, I would go out and buy shit in order to store it there.

But apparently some people disagree.

The founder of the public relations firm Flatiron Communications, Peter Himler, said that if he were part of an advertising campaign, he would advise against using this particular issue, which is "so divisive," to promote a client's commercial interest. He said he found the billboard "in poor taste and shortsighted."
...
Passers-by had mixed reactions. "I have no problem with it," Claudia Citernino, 55, said. She added that it was not as shocking as a lot of other things one sees.



Indeed. Like, say, for instance this:

"Titties and food! Yay! And we make no apologies for it, either!" WTF? Only in a totally bizarro world do we think this sort of thing is unremarkable.

Or this:

"Hi, I'm a slut! Who eats meat! Hahaha, you know what we're talking about here!" Again, people: this is just so, so, gross.

Or even, y'know, this:

"Look at my panties!" Uhm, yeah. Right.

Porn, fine. Whatever. But for god's sake, if you want the unquestioned right to use women's sexuality to sell stupid unrelated shit, then let's not get all bent out of shape when someone uses women's right to their own bodies to do so.

Bitch_PhD wouldn't mind if the ad had said "your" right to choose rather than "her" right to choose, but y'know, that's a pretty minor quibble.

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Comments
Mr_Matt_

Mr_Matt_

Pompano Beach, FL
July 2005

AUG 16, 2007 04:09 PM

I would like to see that billboard go national. Everywhere.

Jasper

Jasper

SUICIDEGIRL

I'm lost

AUG 16, 2007 04:15 PM

It kinda creeps me out that the billboard picture is of a wire hanger, though....

....scrambled eggs, anyone? puke puke puke


stem

stem

Anchorage, AK
January 2007

AUG 16, 2007 04:20 PM

That billboard is pretty much amazing.

OhSoOrdinary

OhSoOrdinary

New York, NY
July 2006

AUG 16, 2007 04:26 PM

I'm a fan.

Tiger_Fodder

Tiger_Fodder

Braintree, MA
June 2007

AUG 16, 2007 04:27 PM

stem said:
That billboard is pretty much amazing.



+1

Tangus

Tangus

Chicago, IL
November 2005

AUG 16, 2007 04:28 PM

now if only we could get one of those storage spaces installed at South of the Border.

d20

d20

San Francisco, CA
September 2003

AUG 16, 2007 04:34 PM

Bitch_PhD said:
Porn, fine. Whatever. But for god's sake, if you want the unquestioned right to use women's sexuality to sell stupid unrelated shit, then let's not get all bent out of shape when someone uses women's right to their own bodies to do so.



once again, you've managed to write an article that zips conveniently past a few key points. there are two different objections in the article you linked -- one that it's immoral and one that it's bad advertising.

with regards to the first, i'm fairly sure that our good friends in the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights also oppose scantily clad harlots. say what you will about their maddonna/whore complex, but i don't think you can nail them for hypocrisy on this particular issue.

with regards to the second, Himler is right: most people viewing any given billboard in this country are going to be ok with sexy womenfolk and not so ok with abortion jokes. though the article goes on to say:

But Mr. Himler, who runs a blog on public relations called "The Flack," noted that the past few years have seen more "p.r. minds" in advertising using subjects of controversy to provoke news coverage. It gives the advertising "more legs," he said.



so the guy you quoted to illustrate your point actually has nothing to do with it -- he was merely commenting on how people would receive it from an advertising standpoint, not passing a personal moral judgment.

so... how is this news? you took, for the umpteenth time, a serious issue that deserves to be discussed here and wrote a positively retarded article about it.

xxxxxxx

xxxxxxx

Canada
September 2005

AUG 16, 2007 04:34 PM

Jasper said:
It kinda creeps me out that the billboard picture is of a wire hanger, though....



Using the idea of a back alley "coat-hanger abortion" to advertise your storage service does seem quite... out there.

brett54

brett54

Australia
November 2004

AUG 16, 2007 04:34 PM

I read the billboard as,

.... as she gets bigger from a pregnancy, she can use a wire coat hanger to have an abortion ......

"... Right to choose... " .... pro choice??

Tacky.

We've moved into the 21st century people.

Squicken

Squicken

Saratoga Springs, NY
March 2007

AUG 16, 2007 04:36 PM

Jasper said:
It kinda creeps me out that the billboard picture is of a wire hanger, though....

....scrambled eggs, anyone? puke puke puke




I laughed extremely hard at this, even though it's completely terrible. Damn...

Spoiled

Spoiled

San Francisco, CA
August 2006

AUG 16, 2007 04:45 PM

xxxxxxx said:

Jasper said:
It kinda creeps me out that the billboard picture is of a wire hanger, though....



Using the idea of a back alley "coat-hanger abortion" to advertise your storage service does seem quite... out there.



i think it's a foul and repulsive way to advertise anything. I don't even get what the point of it is.. how is her right to choose shrinking? wtf does that mean? I really don't get it.. Why doesn't the wire hanger comany just come out with an ad that says,

WIRE HANGERS: THE CHEAPER CHOICE!!

Gillionaire

Gillionaire

Manchester, NH
February 2007

AUG 16, 2007 04:47 PM

Jasper said:
It kinda creeps me out that the billboard picture is of a wire hanger, though....

....scrambled eggs, anyone? puke puke puke




Beat me to it. I was thinking the same thing. Wire hanger in abortion related ad equals bad mental imagery.

TheCoolerKing

TheCoolerKing

NEWSWIRE

Los Angeles, CA

AUG 16, 2007 04:56 PM

Really, the fact that the guy who works in PR advises against cutting the client's profits in half, surprises you?

Is it shocking to you that there are people on both sides of the abortion issue? Who saw that coming? I'd have thought the religious nuts would have embraced this with open arms!

And I can't believe that that single entity called "advertising" run by that one guy, would allow sex to sell but prevent this billboard from going up!

Oh, wait. It is up? But then--

Adelayde

Adelayde

Ellicott City, MD
September 2004

AUG 16, 2007 04:57 PM

brilliant... in the eyes of few. not everyone is going to look at that and go "let me put my stuff there."

i don't find it offensive at all. maybe a little creepy, but definitely not offensive.

ndklinst

ndklinst

New Albany, IN
February 2007

AUG 16, 2007 04:59 PM

That's just perfect.

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