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‘Stupid and Sexist’: German Helmet Ads Come Under Fire

Cycling

‘Stupid and Sexist’: German Helmet Ads Come Under Fire

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Occasionally, the biking enterprise appears to catch inevitable flack for placing a sexist ad. Pinarello launched a poorly worded e-motorcycle marketing campaign in late 2017, Wolf Tooth Components and Glory Cycles both made missteps on social media earlier that year, and Colnago confronted a backlash over a questionable Facebook post in 2015.

And the ones are merely the most exquisite examples. Along with insensitive remarks from race announcers, critics say, these ads contribute to surroundings in the game in which women don’t usually sense as they belong. This time around, the controversy comes through a public agency. Germany’s Transport Ministrylaunched a public safety marketing campaign last week to encourage cyclists to wear helmets.

German Helmet

But as commenters quickly mentioned, the PSAs don’t include everyone on real motorcycles. Instead, they typical scantily clad fashions carrying helmets, alongside the word “Looks like shit. But saves my existence,” written in English. The ads seem more like a marketing campaign for secure sex than safe cycling. Way to the lingerie and bedroom is placing:

The pics unfold on social media over the weekend, prompting revived discussions about sexism in biking, in addition to some confusion over the meaning of messaging. Andreas Scheuer, Germany’s transport minister, said the marketing campaign is meant to counter the notion that helmets are unattractive—something research has stated as one cause why young human beings don’t wear them while using. However, the campaign quickly became something of a political struggle. Maria Noichl, chair of the women’s committee of the German Social Democratic Party (SDP), is known as “embarrassing, silly, and sexist when the transport minister markets his coverage with bare flesh,” in line with the newspaper Bild.

Katja Mast, any other SDP member at the ladies’ committee, instructed the newspaper Passauer Neue Presse, “Taxpayer money need not be spent to place 1/2-bare males and females on posters.” (It should be noted that Scheuer belongs to the Christian Democratic Union, a separate birthday party; it is one in a coalition with the SDP.) On Facebook, Franziska Giffey—the German federal minister for family affairs, senior residents, ladies, and young people—posted a photograph of herself with a motorcycle, noting, “You can put on a helmet even while you’re dressed!” The complaints from national politicians came alongside ratings of upset commenters on social media.

On Monday, Svenja Friedrich, a Transport Ministry spokesperson, told journalists, “We can sincerely recognize the grievance from diverse aspects, but we nevertheless stand via the photographs.” She stated that the marketing campaign also functions as male models. However, the objectification of guys in advertising and marketing hasn’t escaped scrutiny, with critics arguing that the presence of fellows doesn’t nullify ladies’ objectification.

Erika Norman

Travelaholic. Introvert. Certified coffee enthusiast. Beer expert. Web trailblazer. Bacon geek. Spent 2002-2009 lecturing about human growth hormone in Hanford, CA. Spent several months developing strategies for teddy bears in Prescott, AZ. Earned praised for my work exporting chess sets in the financial sector. Uniquely-equipped for working on xylophones in Africa. Uniquely-equipped for getting to know cannibalism in Salisbury, MD. Developed several new methods for developing strategies for wieners in West Palm Beach, FL.

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