A letter to the Ultra Tune CEO on their cheap marketing campaign that won't buy us.. #notbuyingit
The other day I saw something that shocked me, confused me, and ultimately left me feeling physically unwell. It was an advertisement from the well known Australian company Ultra Tune:
My reaction was not a product of conservative values; I actually consider myself quite liberal and comfortable with good, tasteful humour. But the in-your-face message, one that gives young boys a completely skewed, misogynistic view about women, was just too much to bear.
I thought for a moment I was overreacting, but after speaking with a number of friends and acquaintances (both male and female), it was clear I wasn't alone.
Mr Buckley, I implore you not to hide behind the 'harmless fun' or 'we didn't intend any offence' apology. Please.
A corporation with the size, public weight, intelligence and resources of Ultra Tune has to be held to a higher standard than that. This was not an off-the-cuff remark taken out of context. It was a carefully planned media campaign into which your company poured significant time, effort and money.
I know you are a proud family man and, although I’m not a parent, there are a few reasons I would like to share with you why your light hearted, 'humorous' ads are in fact symptomatic of a much graver underlying issue.
Did you know…
- 1 in 4 Australian girls want to have plastic surgery;
- a staggering 90% of Aussie girls state they have been on a diet; and
- self-harm is the highest cause of hospital admissions in the 13-19 age bracket
Strong empirical evidence indicates that exposure to ideals of sexual attractiveness in the media is associated with greater body dissatisfaction among girls and young women, leaving girls feeling ‘ugly’ and ‘gross’ or ‘untouchable'.
Studies of body image have now established that ‘girls as young as 6 to 7 years of age desire a thinner ideal body.’
The women chosen as the stars of the ad live in the 'Candy Shop', a modern day Playboy Bunny House run by Travers Beynon (aka The Candy Man) a multimillionaire Tobacco tycoon from the Gold Coast. These gals are evidently not your everyday women…. you know the ‘girl next door’, so it's not fair to claim that if it were a half naked male model no one would bat an eyelid. I personally can’t recall the last time I saw a male porn star in a commercial advertising campaign?
Ultra Tune's ads are reinforcing a - potentially fatal - message that it is okay for men to sexualise women. Just yesterday we learnt about three young Australians who were able to pay their way out of facing rape charges in Croatia. I don't need to ask you whether this is the type of future you wish for your family, because I know it is not. But it is the present reality.
Young girls watching the ad are likely to believe, mistakenly, that they are simply objects to be stared at and laughed at. That they are worthless, defenceless, unintelligent bimbos who find themselves in 'unexpected situations'.
Although you may think it's just a bit of fun, it is actually contributing to a world of unprecedented incidences of depression and anxiety among our children -- our future leaders.
Unfortunately, most fail to realise just how destructive this ‘fun’ is until it's too late.
I know quite a lot about you, so I thought I would tell you a bit about me. I’m working for an organisation called YGAP, and proudly manage a campaign called Polished Man, an initiative to end violence against children by targeting male behaviour.
To be sure, the video's subjects were not children, but the point is that we must celebrate men as carers, men as role models, and men as leaders, whose masculinity serves to help, not harm. This extends to their conduct toward children, women and each other.
With 1 in 5 children being physically or sexually abused before the age of 18 worldwide (in Australia it is 1 in 28; or one in every classroom) and with 90% of sexual abuse towards children being driven by men I have began to question how on earth did we go so wrong?
I would like to share with you an email I received yesterday from a lady who simply emailed me at info@polishedman.com:
Hello,? I just wanted to say thank you for what you are doing for little ones everywhere. I have no idea how I can help and I really want to.
You see well over fifty years ago when I was very small I was put in bed with a child molester and it went on for years. I buried it deep within my whole life until I reached out to a very special lady, who helped me to heal all those broken pieces and move on.
On the outside you wouldn't have ever known the scars I carried just below the surface. I help others now when I can because this is a disease that we can overcome, and I feel it takes someone who has been down that road that's taken that fire walk to know and understand what it's like and how you feel on the inside.
Books can only teach you so much and it's like riding a bike. If you've never done it, fallen, getting the skinned knees, getting back up again and again. How are you going to talk to someone else about it?
If there is anyway I can help please let me know. Thank you for your time.
The statistics show that young boys with destructive views on women grow up to be men with dangerous ideas about what is acceptable.
You said in your ‘sorry, not sorry’ public statement on the Ultra Tune Facebook page on Feb 1, 2016 ‘Instead of everybody getting upset, enjoy the satire and humour.’
Unfortunately - malicious intentions or not - people cannot be forced to digest, let alone enjoy, something that is inherently unenjoyable - at least to the many and varied people I've heard from. Quite frankly, we’re #notbuyingit.
You also said in the public statement ‘I love my company and my customers...’ I ask you to extend that 'love' to the general Australian public. It matters not that many of us will never enter an Ultra Tune store, because almost every one of us has access to television. And we are all part of the same society - our livelihoods, and attitudes, are shaped to a large extent by those around us.
I do understand that Ultra Tune has a duty to its shareholders. But I would challenge you to survey those very shareholders, and ask whether they are offended by your ads. Then issue the same survey to your customers, or potential customers. I'm adamant that the answer will be an overwhelming 'yes', and I will happily call you to apologise if I'm wrong.
Mr Buckley, I ask you to end this ad campaign immediately. To be sure, some damage has already been done; but given your position you have an incredibly special opportunity to send a clear message to the public about what kinds of images and attitudes are tolerable. I wouldn't write to you otherwise.
Australians are an incredibly forgiving bunch when someone is willing to put his or her hand up to say "I was wrong". You might even find that you win over a whole new customer base with this show of compassion - but of course that's not the point.
I would love to invite you down to our social enterprise restaurant Feast of Merit, or even come to you, to have a chat - you as a father and a son, and me as a daughter, a sister, maybe one day a mother.
I know we could find a way to change the world (without hurting anyone along the way) and sell more repair deals too. Don’t sell your customers short. We’re a pretty intelligent, creative bunch and I for one know we can do better.
I look forward to hearing from you.