Nyomtatható forma :: Forrás: Tűsarok

A több magánszemély és civil szervezet által kifogásolt Axe Bodysutra reklámot az emberek zöme „szórakoztatónak és helyénvalónak” ítéli meg. Legalábbis ez derült ki az Unilever azon felméréséből, melyet a Tűsarok.org-nak elküldött levelében említ.

A cég a lapunk által felvetett kérdésekre nem reagált, azt azonban nem késlekedett hangsúlyozni, hogy az Unilever keményen dolgozik azért, hogy a hirdetései által közvetített üzeneteket a megfelelő közönséghez és médiumokhoz „passzítsa”.

Alábbiakban eredeti nyelven közöljük a Tűsarok.org által az Unileverhez eljuttatott panaszlevelet és a cég reakcióját:

To whom it may concern,

As a Hungarian non-governmental women's rights organization, we would like to make a complaint about the advertising campaign of "AXE Bodysutra" launched by Unilever's Hungarian branch and "Noe's Ark" advertising company. We question the ethics of the whole campaign ranging from newspaper ads to TV commercials, stating that it harms basic human rights and gender equality. The imagery and idea behind the ads on the website www.bodysutra.hu and the TV commercials are unethical and humiliating regarding women, starting from the opening picture (a woman imitating oral sex) till the promotion where the "AXE girls", their sexual habits and bodysizes are described.

The opening message saying "You just have to grab your favorite AXE spray, think over what you want to achieve with girls and choose the suitable AXE Body Sutra position. The effect on girls will be just like a map for the thirsty towards a secret spring, and they will follow it wildly listening to their luscious instincts" shows clearly the idea behind the whole campaign and is supported by the tv commercials.

Women are represented as automats without responsible and independent decisions and they can be forced to a sexual act without their consent. This is supported by one of the TV ads where a woman gets sexually aroused by a coat stand simply because it was sprayed with axe before.

Such sexist representation obviously violates gender equality: women are shown as inferior sexual objects, not as equal partners in a sexual act. We would also like to point out the fact that the campaign violates many paragraphs of the Hungarian Advertising Association's Advertising Ethics Codex.

If requested, we can provide you with more information about that. Naturally, we made a complain to this organization as well. We find the fact especially outrageous, that the campaing"s creative manager, Cseperkalo Istvan answers to the complaining individuals on the Bodysutra webpage's forum as follows: "I have to say, I did not want to hurt anyone's feelings. However, in my opinion, picant humor (sexist, if you want) is a relevant tool in case of a brand that targets young adult men (...)" 

Even the creative director himself admits that his campaign is sexist. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, "sexism" means the following: 1 prejudice or discrimination based on sex; especially : discrimination against women 2 behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex Discrimination is prohibited by the law and sexism cannot be a tool at any product's marketing campaign.

If Unilever takes its slogan "feel good, look good, and get more out of life" seriously, it can agree that such campaigns make women feel worse, look worse (e.g. in the ads) and such campaigns will make them get less out of life (as discrimination and sexism makes them inferior) Thus, we ask Unilever Hungary and Noe's Ark Advertising Agency to

1. Apologize for their humiliating, discriminating and sexist advertising campaign (Axe Bodysutra) - make the apology public in the main newspapers and newsportals and
2. Stop the whole campaign immediately.

As all companies are responsible for their branches, we ask you to support these claims. Waiting for your reply,
Yours sincerely
Viktoria Soos
Tusarok.org - the on-line journal for autonomous women

******

From: Axe, Comments <Comments.Axe@unilever.com>
Date: Nov 17, 2006 5:01 PM
Subject: RE: Consumer Link - Forward of Web Form (Tracking #17522926)
To: soosviki@xxxxxx.yyy

Hi Soos,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us about our advertising policy and practices. As one of the country’s largest advertisers, we take seriously our responsibility to meet our consumers’ needs while maintaining the highest standards of ethics in our business practices.

When it comes to brand communications, we work hard to match our messages with the right audiences and mediums, using extensive insights from consumers.

Based on our research, we know that a wide range of people find the campaign amusing and appropriate. In addition to this, we carefully chose the programming during which AXE advertising appears and only selected those shows that viewers 18 and older are most likely to be watching.

Your feedback is a valuable part of the market research we conduct routinely about consumers’ attitudes and preferences. You can be assured that your comments are appreciated and will be seriously considered.

Thank you,
Your friends at Axe
HC

Kapcsolódó linkek:

Bojkottfelhívás az AXE ellen [2006-11-13]
Fórum: Reklám, média, köznyelv