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Ear to the Ground

Santa Monica Drops ‘Top Model’ Ads

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Posted on Feb 28, 2007
Big Blue Bus
you-are-here.com

Santa Monica has removed advertisements for the TV show “America’s Next Top Model” from city buses because some residents complained the images were disrespectful to women. The ads featured host Tyra Banks and a group of women wearing swimsuits.

What you think? Was this an overreaction on the part of Santa Monica’s famously progressive citizenry, or a valiant defense of women from the exploitation of trash TV?

AP:

The ads showed host Tyra Banks and the new season’s swimsuited contestants posing in front of a waterfall.

Most of the complaints were from people concerned that the city might be endorsing a show they believed was disrespectful to women, said Stephanie Negriff, director of transit services in the beach city.

“It’s a matter of public taste,” she said. “We try to be sensitive to the community.”

“We wouldn’t want to do anything that would disrespect women,” Negriff said.

The ads were up for about two weeks. The bus line is refunding money the CW network paid for the promotion.

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By male feminist, March 1, 2007 at 1:45 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

The obvious answer to Ben Feinberg’s question:
Because the most basic misogyny is accepted as natural and good and fun by the wider society, whereas bullying kids and torturing people isn’t.

I don’t believe in censorship, but i would really like to know the deeper reasons behind this stuff, why this kind of puerile demeaning shit (including pornography but not erotica) amuses so many people. Is it because they have such low self-esteem that they like to degrade THE OTHER to feel better about themselves?

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By C Quil, March 1, 2007 at 9:01 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Over half the world consists of women, most of whom are either irritated or repulsed by larger than life, airbrushed, unclothed women showing up everywhere they look.

Long live sexuality and its delights, but they shouldn’t be everywhere, and especially not on the side of a bus. The attempts to rouse the men and sell stuff is putting the women off - surely self-defeating behavior, unless the guys are only into solitary pleasures.

Enough already!

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By Ben Feinberg, February 28, 2007 at 9:13 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

I used to ride that bus everyday when I was in high school. People wear more scandalous clothes on the bus than those outfits in the ads.
And why attack ANTM - why not also go after Simon Cowell and American Idol for decimating those kids self esteem on National Television, or 24 for preaching the values of torture?
(I say this all as a devoted fan of 24, American Idol and Americas Next Top Model)

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