'Teazers billboards acceptable'
2006-10-05 15:47
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Johannesburg - Five of six racy Teazers strip club billboards will remain along Johannesburg roads, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said on Thursday.
Complaints were lodged against six Teazers billboards by members of the public and women's rights organisations.
One of the six was deemed unacceptable by the Advertising Standards Committee while the rest were approved in a previous ruling. An appeal was dismissed by the ASA.
Teazers owner Lolly Jackson welcomed the ruling on Thursday: "Well done to the ASA". He said there were more important issues to complain about than billboards lining the road.
"It [the ruling] is an indication that this country is improving, we are realising that there [are] more important things to complain about than a couple of billboards," Jackson told Sapa.
Complainants to the ASA said the billboards were offensive as they objectified and demeaned women, were harmful to children, overtly sexual and posed a potential safety risk.
The billboards
The billboards in question depicted pictures of a guava, a kitten with the word, "ours are playful", a picture of a pole dancer accompanied by the words "always in pole position" and a picture of scantily-clad women with the words "not you average lounge" and "our girls stop traffic".
The billboard deemed unacceptable depicted a woman clad in a bikini top and bottom with her hand in her pants accompanied by the words, "itching for action?".
The reference to sex was found to be too clear on this billboard.
The Commission on Gender Equality said the commercials perpetuated a negative stereotypical gender role and promoted the perception of women as "anonymous sexual objects for male pleasure".
In their ruling the ASA noted the commissions' views, but said the issue had to be weighed against the right to freedom of expression.
It was clear that the women depicted in the adverts did so voluntarily and, although strip clubs may not be desirable to a large sector of society, it was not an illegal business.
"The ruling does not give advertisers a green light to put anything on a billboard, but clarifies that the particular ads before the committee are acceptable in a context of free speech," said the ASA.
It also said advertising on billboards may be a matter to consider when it reviewed its codes, due to them being in full public view and the involuntary nature of exposure to them.
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- SAPA