THE Augusta-Margaret Mail received a petition on Monday—signed by 34 people—claiming an advertisement that appeared in last week’s edition was “sexually explicit”.
The advertisement, placed by sports equipment and fashion retail outlet The Gecko Effect, featured a photo of a woman from behind wearing a bra and g-string, or “thong”.
The caption reads Thongs Anyone? and a photo of Australian thongs (footwear) appears underneath.
Critics have labelled the image as “pornographic”, “demeaning”, “confronting”, “dehumanising”, “intrusive”, “exploiting” and “inappropriate”.
“Consider me old-fashioned, but I would like to express my disgust,” Kerry Cain wrote in a letter to the editor (see page 6).
“Perhaps you could think about what you are exposing families to the next time advertising is more profitable than family values,” wrote another.
Owner of The Gecko Effect, Denys St Pierre, was surprised at the response.
“We had no intention of causing offence to anyone,” he said.
“We are a new business with a very small market and what we’re trying to do is get our name out there.”
Mr St Pierre said the advertisement was one in a series of ads in a campaign which uses a humorous and edgy approach to selling fitness products.
“I think you could say there is controversy in every ad (in the campaign),” he said.
He refers to one ad which featured a skinny, shirtless boy flexing his muscles next to the caption “I want muscles for Christmas”.
“We could get complaints we are picking on children,” he said.
In another recently published advertisement an image of a criminal handcuffed is shown and the slogan ‘If only he could run faster’ printed alongside him.
“(In this instance) we could be seen to be encouraging people to break the law.”
The advertisements are intended to be humorous, he said, adding the image of the woman in her undergarments is no more sexually explicit than images of women regularly used to sell lingerie, swimwear, and health and beauty products.
The Gecko Effect business development manager/freelance graphic designer Simon Nayla says surf shops on the main street of Margaret River regularly display giant posters of women in skimpy bikinis “but no-one bats an eyelid at it”.
The feedback on the advertisement has not been all negative either, with both men and women expressing their appreciation of the humour.
“The positive feedback we’ve been getting is huge,” Mr Nayla said.
“I went to pay rent yesterday and the lady in the real estate office commented to me that it was a ‘wicked ad’.”
As for future censorship, neither Mr St Pierre nor Mr Nayla believe they have crossed the boundary of taste.
“It was within what we understand to be the Australian advertising standards,” Mr St Pierre said.
The company issued this press release on Monday:
“Our current advertising campaign is a vital part of our launch into the marketplace as a new retail business in the region.
“Unlike any other retail sectors the profile of our company is such that we promote a healthy and productive lifestyle within our community.
“At no point did we, or will we, intend to cause offence to any individual or minority group.
“We appeal to a section of the population that share these views and, as such, our sense of humour.
“This is reflective in our innovative and modern advertising style as seen in the local press over the last few weeks.”
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