Lingerie Football League promotion cleared by ad watchdog
A concerted campaign by Collective Shout has failed to persuade the Advertising Standards Board to ban promotions for the Lingerie Football league.
The US-created “sport” attempted to extend its franchise to Australia in June.
A complaint about the Brisbane event said: “The women were shown wearing lingerie. It was Prime time TV. I was concerned about the pornographic material being shown. It is objectifying and degrading women.”
But LFL argued: “The vision shown is athletes wearing 2 piece sportswear including boy cut briefs (similar to those worn by Beach Volleyball players or track and field athletes).”
The ASB ruled: “The Board noted that the women appearing in advertisement all appear confident and considered that most members of the community would consider the portrayal of women in this manner to not be disrespectful. The Board considered that whilst sexual appeal is used in the advertisement it is used in a manner which would not be considered exploitative and degrading by most members of the community.”
2 piece “sportswear”? Fairly sure beach volleyballers and track & field athletes don’t have suspender straps on their kit… I’m not against the league I just love how they justified it all…. They’ve argued it’s “sportswear” and not as accused “lingerie” but it’s called the “LINGERIE league”…. Genius! O.J’s team must have been on that case…
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The girls who actually play this sport are all very confident and are generally pretty damn tough!
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I wonder if any of the male members of the ASB would want their daughters playing LFL as a career.
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People that hate on the LFL are f**** lunatics. These girls are human beings capable of making their own decisions about their own lives. Stop trying to act as if your values and opinions should precede those of other members of society.
The cardinal rule of TV applies: if you don’t like it, don’t watch.
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Oh Please…How does it go? Oh….Pleeeeease !
I don’t think many people would find athletic bodies in sporting attire purely practical, and certainly not dull. There is a very strong sensual component in all sports activity in my opinion and as I understand it.
Nobody in this ad, or in performance on the field, could compare with the best of the thighs and knickers at the tennis or the costumed bodies of swimmers, track and field competitors, gymnasts, cyclists, net ball players, or my personal favourite, Those brilliant specimens of bold, beautiful, young Australian womanhood….The Magnificent Hockeyroos.
There must be people out there who would have swimmers back in neck to knees, or at equestrian events, ladies riding mares only , and side saddle at that, but I hope I never meet them.
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“The women were shown wearing lingerie. It was Prime time TV. I was concerned about the pornographic material being shown. It is objectifying and degrading women.”
Collective Shout degrade women with a frightening regularity. They just haven’t quite noticed. Which is amusing.
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I have said for about 3 years now that Australia should start a league. At the end of the day it’s gong to make money and create jobs so stop bitchen and start enjoying the revenue it will produce. Ausy rules players use to wear shorts briefer than these girls wear and I didn’t hear the girls complaining then. You can see more flesh walking along the beach at midday so stop the moaning and look at the positives. It’s encouraging women in sport, it’s promoting a healthier body, and its making money and providing entertainment. I would bet that all those complaining are (comment edited by Mumbrella on the grounds of both sexism and predictability).
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“Fairly sure beach volleyballers and track & field athletes don’t have suspender straps on their kit.”
So you’re saying the entire difference between a beach volleyball uniform and a LFL uniform is a small, 3 inch, piece of elastic with a clipper on the end? Well THAT seems reason enough to ban it.
This isn’t a sport. It was never intended to be a sport. It simply does a great job of accessing the same market that Vince and the WWE have accessed for decades: ‘sports entertainment’. And incidentally, the girls where a lot less in WWE and Collective Shout hadn’t said a word about that.
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You go, Collective Shout. What were they trying to achieve, remove TV advertising now for an event which took place in early June?
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Yes, I am saying that suspender straps make it Lingerie, they are generally intended to connect stockings, as part of a Lingerie ensemble, I think most would agree. It’s also very hard to ignore the fact it’s called the LINGERIE league Simon. And no, if you read my post you’ll find I wasn’t suggesting they ban it…
I think you right to a point on it being Sports Entertainment but I also think it has merit as a true sport, the results are not contrived and the impact is not “dramality” so although it walks a fine line it is far above WWE in its “reality”. I disagree that it is accessing the WWE market, I think it is far broader (excuse the pun) than that (not sure if bigger though). A lot of sport fans scoff at WWE but would watch Lingerie League, albeit the perve factor is usually the keynote address and the sport a support act…
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Collective Shout’s apparent ethos:
“If mummy (or daddy) thinks something is, or is related to something that might make daddy feel “funny” it should be banned.”
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AdGrunt – I agree with you totally re Collective Shout . They send a clear message to
the women of Australia that they are apparently being exploited and degraded but they don’t know. How insulting is that? And that a handful of women who choose to participate in this LFL are damaging the rest of us. Collective Shout would have us all covered up and overweight if they had it their way and want us to not trust men as they are all disrespectful and have sexual thoughts. How dare they- what a crime. They need to get over themselves and make sure their own backyards are tidy and stay out of others. They don’t educate anyone by shaming men or advertisers and really send an anti male anti sex message to their target market . Just saying. We the majority can see right through them.
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* how dare they have sexual thoughts
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Also how will they ever ban sexual thoughts between men and women and just because you only look at a woman or man because of their body etc , does it alwayshave to be made out to be so degrading and harmful. Most people are discreet when they are enjoying a view. When you consent to running out on a field in skimpy outfits and are aware that you will definitely be ogled by the opposite sex it is no- ones business. ( unless you get physically abused etc) as that is never acceptable. Just because some LFL players have been treated unfairly – big deal !! Every industry has ex employees like that.
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I’m on a roll today … And the good ol comeback from the wowsers of ” how would you like it if your daughter/sisters were the ones playing in LFL? Hello , these players are someone’s daughters and sisters and friends and they consent to this. It’s not up to the BACWA to decide what people choose to do.
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Just saw the ad and didn’t seen any lingerie? What a let down?
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Lazy mans’s viewing. Don’t waste time watching sport then porn. Watch sport and porn combined. Much more efficient use of time.
The proof of whether this league works will be in 20 years time. We’ll see if these women are revered, like old male footy players, as heros who can go onto coach or develop careers. Or whether they get treated with the same respect as ex strippers and pole dancers. I know what my money’s on.
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This LFL is not recognized as sport it is entertainment so therefore no I doubt these
players will become coaches etc.. Point is that they are willing participants and possibly advancing their modeling/dancing careers they also have going. The way people carry on you’d think they had 11 year old girls running around in lingerie. Call it what you want it should die it’s own death from lack of interest rather than a small group of people wanting it banned altogether because of their own religious or feminist theories. Are we in Australia?
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