Wicked Campers Are In Trouble With The Advertising Standards Watchdog Again
Who knew that painting "Fat chicks are harder to kidnap" across a camper van would be offensive?
by Alasdair Duncan 17 April 2014
In a move that is definitely not very tight, and could not be construed as chillaxed to any degree, let alone the max, the Advertising Standards Bureau have upheld a complaint against the bros at Wicked Campers, after they splashed the slogan "Fat chicks are harder to kidnap" across the back of one of their vehicles.
We can't find the "fat chicks" one, but this picture gives you the idea. (h/t Daily Life)
Anyone who's ever pulled up next to a Wicked Camper knows that the vans are regularly festooned with juvenile bullshit, along the lines of crude dick jokes and pictures of big boobies, which led Daily Life to call for a boycott in February last year. This particular piece of juvenile bullshit, however, was a step too far for the bureau, who found it to be in breach of Section 2.6 of the Advertiser Code of Ethics.
The relevant section of the code states that advertising or marketing communications "should not depict material contrary to prevailing community standards on health and safety." The bureau's finding noted significant community concern around kidnapping – which is still, at the time of writing, illegal – and criticised Wicked for promoting antisocial behaviour.
The bureau, however, rejected the second part of the complaint, to do with the slogan being offensive to women. They noted that the mention of "fat girls", while tasteless and "not a nice reference", was not directed at a specific person and therefore did not meet the threshold for being discriminatory "towards overweight females of females in general."
Businesses, take note: if you're planning on kidnapping anyone, or inciting your customers to do so, you may want to give that a rest for now — but your 'No Fat Chicks' policy is still all good.
Amazingly enough, this is not the first time that Wicked Campers have crossed paths with the good people of the Advertising Standards Bureau. Back in 2009, they upheld a complaint about one of Wicked's flyers, which told young visitors to Australia to siphon free fuel, "snog an aboriginal", and "score a speeding ticket you never have to pay".
Complaints pointed out that the ad promoted "anti-social behaviour" and spoiled "the image of Australia and our culture and the values we've strived to promote" — I'm assuming through such films as Wolf Creek and Crocodile Dundee. Wicked were found to have breached Section 2.6 of the code by inciting young people to steal and not pay tickets.
Wicked Campers were not approached for comment, but as of right now, they are probably spray painting one of their vans with a picture of a dick labelled "Advertising Standards Bureau" going into a woman's butt labelled "Free Speech."
tagsWicked Campers