Offensive posters for sale at freshers' week

[ImJustMadAboutSaffron]

I'm a university lecturer. I have been out and about on freshers' week to different buildings and come across a poster sale that is on for a few days. There are several options for sale, Harry Styles, Blink 182, Stranger Things, Billie Eilish, Mabel, lots of different ones. But three I find really offensive, and I imagine some students would, too:

A Buddha with the wording "Don't be a Ct"
A poster with "Fk Off" in different coloured fonts
Another with the same words taking up the whole poster

Asterisks mine. Think I am repressed if you like, I don't care!

The 90s was all about acid, happy hardcore those yellow smiley faces, ecstasy and weed on posters. Add to that lots of topless women posters being everywhere I think I'll choose swearing over the 90s thanks

on the flip side, the work ethic of many students is also omg , you think they just want to party than actually study for their degree.

You are very easily offended.

The Buddha one isn't anti Buddhism it's just summarising one of the teachings in a rude way.

Maybe you thought it would be offensive to Buddhists?

I'm sure there are some actually offensive things on campus to get yourself worked up about.

The dumbing down of society continues in the halls of residence.

Yeah, having mildly offensive posters is definately a new thing.

I don't think you're wrong necessarily to be offended. I'm not and most wouldn't be. The real issue is what you want to do with your 'offence '. Personally I think freedom of expression overrules your sentiments on this one. You're just going to have to suck it up....

Yep. I was a kid in the 90's and I have a very clear memory of going into Woolworths with my pocket money and flicking through the posters. I was about 9 or 10 years old. There was a colourful poster of the marijuana leaf symbol and I really liked it (not knowing what it meant). I wanted to buy it for my bedroom. My parents steered me gently away from it, I was confused.

It's ridiculous to post about this as if it's not always been a thing that students/ young people want to be edgy and offensive. It was ever thus!

So true...

Targeting products with a few swear words on at adults isn't a big deal imo.

Helps students find their herd.

Sweary, drugs, clever, sexist, political, nerdy... look at their walls posters are just a barometer of whether you will get along with someone generally.

In my era Pink Floyd and Nirvana posters were for the "try too hard to be cool", Escher for the nerdy clever, Che Guevara for the politically confused, tits out - for the immature, anarchy symbols ... well we just avoided those as you'd be talked to death etc.... quite a semaphore system. Choose your posters wisely!

I remember reading my brothers rag mag aged 8 in 1985 and it being filled with the most disgusting misogynistic rapey jokes that were totally par for the course for students in those days. that was nearly 40 years ago and I think much worse than a poster that says f*ck off. I don’t think they would be allowed to issue that kind of thing these days.

There's nothing new about these posters, I was in uni in 2001 and there was stuff like that around. I can't see the issue to be honest, if people want to hang them on their own walls then go for it!

Well, I'm a pensioner with 4 grandchildren at Unis, and it wouldn't bother me. Every generation pushes the boundaries. 🙂

I definitely had rude posters and I also wore a t-shirt that said fck, with the U included.

Surely the whole point of uni is time to be a bit rude or rebel or have fun!

If they offend you don't go in any student rooms!!

fuck me, how cunty to have those words written on wanky posters

And ps. I was at uni 96-99

You work for the uni do you not have some sort of obligation to do something about hate speech?

I hate the word c**t. I find it insulting to women. But I recognise I'm in the minority.

I would find the poster of Buddha offensive. The others not so much

The student union people who booked them are contacting the poster company. Students have complained about the Buddha ones, and one called something like Let's Kill Toby (?) with a kid tied up and being threatened by someone with a knife, mimicking Ladybird books (I haven't seen this one).

I hate that word, but students always push the boundaries. They soon grow out of it.

A poster with the words "fuck off" on it is not hate speech.

I think the Let's Kill Toby poster is pretty disturbing.

I was a student in the nineties. If it wasn’t tits it was spliffs. Not sure where you got the idea that posters didnt used to be offensive.