Official: Advertisers can say MILF
It is okay to describe the actress who played Stifler’s mum in American Pie as a MILF, Australia’s advertising watchdog has ruled.
The complaint came to the Ad Standards Board over a Ticketmaster promotion for a tour by the actress Jennifer Coolidge which sees her visit Australia in June.
According to the complaint: “As this is a special offer, you need to enter a code word into the Ticketmaster booking engine to receive the discount. The code that you are asked to enter is MILF. This seems innocent enough except that MILF is an acronym commonly used in the porn industry for “MOMS I’D LIKE TO F***” This is not a randomly generated word. Jennifer Coolidge is not a porn star. She is the actress who played ‘Stifler’s mom’ in the teen comedy American Pie – that’s the film most famous for the guy masturbating using a warm apple pie.
“My objection is about the casual and insidious use of pornography (in this case a term used in pornography) to sell to the general public.”
However, Ticketmaster responded: “Whilst Ticketmaster would accept that the original meaning of the acronym MILF is widely known, it is clear that this term has in itself become widely accepted in common parlance and is not generally regarded as offensive.”
It pointed out that the discount code had been suggested by Coolidge’s promoter.
Despite that, Ticketmaster said it had voluntarily changed the purchase code from MILF.
The ASB dismissed the complaint, ruling:
“The Board noted the complainant‟s concerns that the word MILF is linked to pornography. The Board noted that the term MILF was coined in a film featuring Jennifer Coolidge and that it is an acronym for words meaning a sexually attractive older woman. The Board considered that it is not a term directly related to the pornography industry but to Jennifer Coolidge’s character in the film American Pie and has subsequently been used to describe attractive mothers generally.
“The Board considered that whist the word MILF did relate to the sexual attractiveness of a woman, you would need to understand the meaning of this acronym in order to understand the sexual reference. The Board considered that in the context of the advertisement for the Jennifer Coolidge tour, this word and implied reference is relevant and unlikely to be viewed or understood by children.”
It added: “Whilst some members of the community may not like this word, it has become part of the common vernacular, is not generally considered offensive, and in this context is not inappropriate.”
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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Hmmm…interesting – maybe MILF is now going to be used in more marketing….after all sex sells.
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American Pie reference … now?
BBC – big black c.
ATM – a. to mouth
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Hmmm, well this is good news! I’ve always considered ‘MILF’ to be complementary when taken in the right context. Check out my store http://www.milfclothing.com.au
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