Friday January 8, 2010
At Least Two Canadian Cities Ban Offensive “Virgin” Transit Ads
By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
CALGARY, Alberta, January 8, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Calgary is one of at least two Canadian cities that have pulled sexually suggestive ads, one of which involved a gay theme with two men, from public transit shelters after an outburst of complaints.
The ads for Virgin Mobile cell phones show two men, or a man and a woman, in passionate embraces, with one person in each picture dressed up with angel’s wings. The caption under the picture reads “Hook Up Fearlessly.” In current jargon to ‘hook up’ with someone typically means to have casual sex.
Transit authorities in Calgary and Mississauga have told the company to remove the ads. The highly sensual ads on Toronto bus shelters were not pulled and continued to be displayed throughout the Christmas shopping season.
Calgary Transit spokesman Ron Collins told Sun Media the ads were deemed “a bit too provocative,” and though he did not explain why the ads had been approved in the first place, he said the complaints received mention the positioning of the models’ hands in two of the ads.
“In both cases we thought the hand positioning of the male on the female was inappropriate – one of them is on her bare thigh and the other one is on her buttocks,” Mr. Collins said.
“If you look at that through the eyes of a child using the transit system, we didn’t think it was appropriate they should be subjected to that,” Collins added.
Virgin Mobile chief marketing officer Nathan Rosenberg told Sun Media the ads were due to be replaced this week by the company’s next ad campaign in any event and made no apologies for the offensive graphics.
“Virgin’s advertising always tends to have an edge to it,” he said. “We’re very interested in creating advertising that creates discussion. It’s quite interesting for us because these are the sorts of images people are bombarded with every day.”
Contact Information to voice your concern / opinion:
City of Calgary Transportation Department – Calgary Transit
224 – 7 Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta
Phone: 403-262-1000
Email: [email protected]
City of Mississauga – Mississauga Transit
300 City Centre Drive
Mississauga, ON L5B 3C1
Phone: 905-615-4636
Email: [email protected]
Toronto Transit System
Phone: 416-393-3030 (Weekdays, 8:00am – 5:00pm, closed holidays)
Adam Giambrone
Chairman of the Toronto Transit System
City Hall
100 Queen Street West, Suite C42
Toronto, ON M5H 2N2
Phone: 416-392-7012
Fax: 416-392-7957
[email protected]
Company that Manages TTC bus Shelter ads
Rob Sinasac
National Sales Manager
CBS Outdoor
416-521-6437
[email protected]
Virgin Mobile Canada
720 King Street West, Suite 905
Toronto, Ontario M5V 2T3
Phone: 888-999-2321
Website with email feedback: https://www.virginmobile.ca/
Read related LSN articles on contentious transit ads:
“Life is Short. Have an Affair.”: Toronto Transit System Rejects Adultery-Promoting Ad
Toronto Transit Commission Approves Anti-God Ads
Buses Cannot Refuse Political Ads, Supreme Court of Canada Rules in B.C. Case