"Shag, Marry or Behead" - 3 mobile

Very good! You've marked their card, hopefully they will be less stupidly crass in future.

That is brilliant. Well done everyone and thanks to you Jean for informing us all.

They are gaslighting you. And all women, falling back on the "it's just bantz, can't you take a joke?". Never fails.

How can referencing a real although historical woman being beheaded be lighthearted fun? I feel like I am being gaslighted. The bit of the advert that I saw that I reacted to was a huge sword slicing down through what must have been a melon or something. It was shocking to see while scrolling through my Twitter feed. It just proves that men have no understanding of the level of threat that women feel.

Three's response and "apology" was predictably shit.

This tweet was removed earlier today. The ad was intended to be light hearted fun on Valentine's day. We don't believe it promotes violence against women - which we don't condone in any form. However, we're sorry for any offence caused.

I guess with Borat, you have a Jew playing a Muslim who hates Jews.

Aw, how hysterical, discussing whether someone looks hot enough to shag or marry or whether she is so ugly you should cut off her head! Ha ha ha ha ha!

Henry Viii would be judged a serial killer, as well as the murderer of his wives, by today's standards.

I seriously doubt that, given that it ignores a huge amount of information about every single aspect of the society of the time. Honestly, that's a real reach.
No, he wasn't remotely a nice person. Absolute monarchy plus monarch with an acquired brain injury isn't a good recipe. Knowledge of the politics of the time, and the absolute chaos of a realm without a clear leader would have been hanging over the entire society.
It's much, much too complex a situation to call H8 (for whom I have no particular love) a serial killer.

Sometimes I think companies do this to garner controversy and extra publicity.

But this one just read "Hur hur, dead women, hur hur..." Beavis and Butthead style dick humour that was just trying to set an edgelord brand image. And even more contemptible for that, tbh.

It's one thing to say something you know is outrageous and unacceptable to generate clicks that you know you will pull eventually having raised your profile. It's quite another to just casually contribute to the general "Dead women, who gives a fuck?" culture.

And his wife Catherine Howard was only 19 (or maybe 18) when she was executed on his orders. Ha fucking ha. Hilarious.

It's also thought she was a victim of sexual abuse, as she went to a boarding school where some men were given free range to roam the dormitories.

I struggle to imagine anything more preposterous and offensive.

Uh, how about imagining a musical written by the Nazis about Jewish people, for laughs?
Yes, of course everyone (I hope!) can surely see that would be completely unfunny, and why.

Jokes work when the butt is an equal or someone in a stronger position.

I still can't think of any examples of humour (black or otherwise) which really work in which the butt is weak and/or innocent.

And in some cases, it can seem outrageous. As in my example, a musical written by a Jew about the Nazis, apparently for laughs. On the face of it, I struggle to imagine anything more preposterous and offensive. So all I was asking is, where is the line that people should not cross?

Yup. The Producers is funny because it's subversive- I can't imagine many neo-Nazis like it. The subtitled 'Downfall' clips likewise.

It’s not about what topics are off-limits at all. The issue is who or what is the target of the joke?

How much money do corporations make out of bad publicity? These things happen fairly frequently in advertising. Sow accidental is the outrage they cause, and how profitable in the long term?

Re the black humour aspect. Mel Brooks said he was the first Jew to make a buck out of Hitler when he had a hit with The Producers. So when is humour off-limits?

I phoned to complain. I wonder how many other complaints they got.

And his wife Catherine Howard was only 19 (or maybe 18) when she was executed on his orders. Ha fucking ha. Hilarious.

Does it being 500 years ago mean that it is good grounds for a "joke"'for some people? What is the acceptable amount of time to elapse after womens' deaths to make it a source of amusement? Genuine question.

Henry Viii would be judged a serial killer, as well as the murderer of his wives, by today's standards.

I don't see anyone thinking "jokes" about Jack the Ripper or Fred West would be a great way to sell phones

Will they have a similar one about Edward II and the alleged poker on Grindr I wonder?

Not sure where that rogue comma came from but I stand by what I said. Cross posted with still who summed it up in a much better and more eloquent way

I feel really uncomfortable with the jolly lighthearted way Henry VIII beheading is dealt with, it's really odd.

DD doing it at the mo I said remember it's real women he had killed so not really a fun topic at all!

Snarky and Still between their posts have summed up WHY this is not funny. It's absolutely about control. We know that 2 women are murdered by their spouse/partner every week many involving head trauma and /or stabbing. Knowing this how anyone can say this ad is a just a joke is either deliberately being a goady fucker or unbelievably thick. Most of you are probably both.

This joke is lazy and not at all subversive. The man comes out on top still; he's the one in control, swiping the women, choosing their fate. Women face structural sexism - men do tend to come out on top and choose the fate (see the shocking number of rape cases that even get to trial for example).

If structural sexism had ended with the Tudors then it could have been a great historical joke. If the joke hinged on how being an abusive male makes you a pathetic unlovable twat maybe that could have saved it too.

This.

Ha ha ha, it’s so funny because Henry VIII had his wives beheaded and now, hundreds of years later men, use apps like Tinder to hook up with women and then kill them. Oh and many of those men seem to avoid prosecution by claiming she’d agreed to rough sex. Mega lols