Bus company uses naked woman and 'Ride me all day for £3' slogan on back of their buses

[DuelingFanjo]

their facebook page

this is their company site

These are running in Cardiff and the South Wales valleys and I am absolutely disgusted.
Anyone who feels offended could you contact them and leave a message on their facebook page?

Their twitter

Who on earth thought that was a good idea?!

Left a msg on their FB post.

Already people are supporting them saying 'if you don't like it don't look at it' and 'it's funny'. Apparently these buses are also used to transport school children?

I imagine the company will trot out:

'no offence was intended' and be of the opinion that it's just all good fun and all publicity is good publicity.

By all accounts they are a small firm in a competitive market so perhaps the best and speediest thing they should do is apologise, withdraw the advertising and convince people that they fully understand why it was so offensive. They won't though.

I have left a comment. That's bloody outrageous

Have contacted them through their website. Utterly pathetic.

Urghhh!!!! Leaving message now.

I've reported to the ASA. Bloody disgraceful!

I have just sent them a strongly worded message via their 'contact us' page on the website.

Shockingly bad.

and me Buffy though I bet you'll get one muppet come along soon.

There is a Male version, still sexist and still wrong.
I think they will trot it out as some kind of 'equality' thing, though they do not feature it on their twitter page.

Being pulled.

Yes, good news.

Good that it's being pulled but it is a bit depressing that we're likely to see more small companies with small budgets doing this kind of thing, getting far more attention than they otherwise would, and then saying, "Oh, some feminazis people took offence so we're pulling it," once they've benefited from the increased visibility.

What is this, 1974?
Reminds me of the Tenants pin up girl csns and the dd peanuts.

I saw the male version first and thought it was in bad taste. A bit too risqué for a bus company.

I feel sorry for the models. Most likely the 'creative' bought a cheapo library shot and added the copy to the blank panel.

We need a feminist advertising company. ... or a consultant who can just run it by their female sensibilities. Cause men just don't get it.

Our new labour MP was involved in asking the company for a response and the council uses their services so had a hand in them withdrawing it I think. Possibly they did think it would get them a lot of publicity but I think the threat of the Council taking action made them withdraw it quickly. It will be costly for them I am sure, just because they now have to remove it from their buses.

This is disgusting! Thanks for highlighting.

Oh that's brilliant Duelling !

They emailed me the link to their statement here natgroup.co.uk/news/statement

It's so badly written. 'given the volume of negativity received' ffs!

Anyway, I'm glad it's being taken down.

this was their statement:

"Firstly we have stated that our objectives have been to make catching the bus attractive to the younger generation. We therefore developed an internal advertising campaign featuring males and females to hold boards to promote the cost of our daily tickets.

The slogan of ‘ride me all day for £3’ whilst being a little tongue in cheek was in no way intended to cause offence to either men or women and, if the advert has done so then we apologise unreservedly. There has certainly been no intention to objectify either men or women.

Given the volume of negativity received we have decided to remove the pictures from the back of the buses within the next twenty four hours."

so clearly "appealing to the younger generation" = "objectification yay!". fucking appalling logic

Shutterstock has a clause expressly forbidding use of images containing models in this way (bold mine):

RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF VISUAL CONTENT
YOU MAY NOT:

Use Visual Content other than as expressly provided by the license you purchased with respect to such Visual Content.
<strong>Portray any person depicted in Visual Content (a "Model") in a way that a reasonable person would find offensive, including but not limited to depicting a Model: a) in connection with pornography, "adult videos", adult entertainment venues, escort services, dating services, or the like; b) in connection with the advertisement or promotion of tobacco products; c) as endorsing a political party, candidate, elected official, or opinion; d) as suffering from, or medicating for, a physical or mental ailment; or e) engaging in immoral or criminal activities.</strong>
<strong>Use any Visual Content in a pornographic, defamatory, or deceptive context, or in a manner that could be considered libelous, obscene, or illegal.</strong>