Messing with adverts

[EvilEyeButterPie]

I know there's an actual term for it, but I forget what.

Anyway, I've been trying to work out something, anything we can do about the fact that we are bombarded with women being used as sex objects in adverts (OR as "mum" characters, who only care about cleaning/cooking/rolling their eyes at their husbands)

I thought of making up stickers saying things like "somebodies daughter", but then I thought that infantalises the woman and doesn't really help.

FGS, there are adverts on phoneboxes (actually printed on, not cards inside - they have been paid for and officially sanctioned) for lap dancing bars with a pile of naked women.

I presume some of you have done something like this, or at least know of people who have - what is most effective?

I'm already in the habit of turning round all magazines that have sexually explicit covers in newsagents. tbh, not sure what good that does though.

is the word 'adbusting'? At least, I think there is a website (anticapitalist rather than feminist) called Adbusters.

it's a great idea.

It's called subvertising. I mention the name cos then you'll also be able to google, not to be a smartarse.

On the stickers thread someone posted a link to the ones that should not be used on any cosmetic surgery etc ads on the underground.

I've seen some good examples on line, although the specific examples allude me at the moment.

And keep turning the mags - it does good cos it subverts them being 'normal'

Adbusters is similar. That's a Canadian magazine who do that kind of stuff. I used to get it, but it gave me nightmares!

I would suggest that you keep turning the mags over or hiding the magazines even. I put them behind put something like 'Caravanning Monthly' (or an equivalent) or put a copy of Men's Health (with the chap with the torso) in front of them all.

I was in my local Sainsbury's last night and they have had covers over Nuts and Zoo for a while now but not, for some reason, over FHM. However, someone from Object or from Mumsnet had got there first because there was a copy of "The Lady" over FHM! I then hid the few copies of FHM that remained. Teamwork!

For the last 2 years I've collected the magazine sales for "men's lifestyle" mags and those for the tacky wank mens mags are dropping sharply. Hopefully, if they drop enough, shops will finally get the message and will stop selling them or the mags will go out of business (like Maxim did - now online only). Hiding them will contribute towards this!

An alternative is to actually open the magazines at a bad page and leave them there so that people can actually see what they're really like. That might actually inspire more people to complain.

Or, and this is a favourite of mine, call the manager over and stand there with the mag open at a bad page and ask in a very polite voice why it's not on the top shelf. It's always very funny seeing a usually male manager shuffle around in an embarrassed way and cough and stammer whilst you shove a big photo of a barely legal girl's breasts in his face.

Another thing to do is join in with the Object feminist fridays (they use paper bags) or use post it notes as these don't stick and cause criminal damage. A post it note saying 'Nuts about women? Show them some respect!' or 'FHM? For Horrible Misogynist' stuck inside a magazine will get the message across (have done this!).

Our local tube station had a stickering spate. They said things like

"sexist shit" (short and to the point)

and on the plastic surgery ones

"this is not normal - you are"

can't remember the rest but there were lots of them!