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Ad watchdog slams Wicked Campers’ Chuck Norris blow job message as ‘demeaning and degrading to women’

chuck norris wicked camperAustralia’s most badly behaved advertiser has fallen foul of the Advertising Standards Board two more times.

Wicked Campers – which no longer even responds to complaints to the ASB about the slogans painted on its vehicles and messages used in its advertising – has had two more findings against it.

The two messages painted on vans were: “I’m straight, don’t rear end me!” and “If you’ve ever met a woman with crooked teeth, you’ve met a woman who has given Chuck Norris a blow job”.

wicked rear endA complaint about the first said the message was “blatantly homophobic, heterosexist, and sexist”.

A complaint about the blow job message said it was disgusting and objectifying.

The ASB ruled on the rear end complaint: “in the Board’s view the most likely interpretation is that the advertisement is making a statement to the gay community regarding unwanted sexual advances. The Board considered that the advertisement portrays homosexuality in a negative light and that this is discriminatory towards homosexuals.”

On the Chuck Norris van, the ASB said: “In the Board’s view the advertisement uses a sexual reference in a manner which is demeaning and degrading to women.

“The Board noted the link made between crooked teeth and blow jobs and considered that the advertisement could be interpreted to suggest that a woman has crooked teeth as a result of a violent sexual act or as a result of violence following a sexual act. The Board considered that to imply violence in this manner is not justifiable in the context of the product advertised.”

Wicked Campers has had a string of complaints upheld against it over the last few years. However, because unlike most advertisers, Wicked’s messages appear mainly on its own media, the ASB – a voluntary industry body – has little ability to make Wicked comply with its rulings. The ASB said it was in talks with Queensland Police.

Meanwhile, Wicked Campers is currently offering a promotion on its website of a discount for stoned drug users.

Wicked's website

Wicked’s website

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