Update: 17th July, 2014
The Australian Christian Lobby has welcomed a public apology by Wicked Campers for an offensive slogan on one of its vans and an undertaking to change any other slogans on its fleet of campers within six months but says harsher penalties need to be introduced to prevent reoffending.
“Although an apology from Wicked Campers is a welcome move, what’s stopping the company from again plastering sexist and misogynistic material on their vans in a year’s time,” said Wendy Francis, the ACL’s spokesperson the dignity of women.
“The self-regulatory system of outdoor advertising is clearly not working. Our children and young people will continue to be expsed to sexualised and degrading content in our public space if penalties are not introduced on companies like Wicked Campers and future offenders.”
The ACL has called for state governments to regulate outdoor advertising.
ACL calls for outdoor ad regulations, saying Wicked Campers’ slogans “degrade women”
15th July, 2014
The Australian Christian Lobby has reiterated calls for state governments to regulate outdoor advertising, pointing to advertising seen on Wicked Campers which it says degrades women.
Wendy Francis, the ACL’s spokesperson on the dignity of women, says slogans seen on the company’s campers undermined a woman’s worth. She says the company had repeatedly ignored calls from the Advertising Standards Bureau to keep its slogans in line with community standards.
“Our children and young people will continue to be exposed to such inappropriate content if our governments fail to intervene.”
The latest call follows the recent launch of a petition – ‘Eliminate misogynistic and degrading slogans and imagery’ – by a Sydney mother, Paula Orbea, whose 11-year-old daughter saw Wicked camper bearing the slogan ‘In every princess, there’s a little slut who wants to try it just once’ while in the Blue Mountains.
That petition, found at change.org, has garnered more than 100,000 signatures. It is being directed at Wicked founder John Webb.
Mr Webb has reportedly told SBS he wasn’t concerned by the petition and was happy to see Wicked being marketed around the world thanks to the petition.
