Ad Agency Criticized Again for Sexism

An advertising agency that sent a photo of an African boy apparently kissing a cow’s rear to the head of a women’s center is drawing new criticism for an ad depicting a female athlete with a bulge underneath her gym shorts.

“It’s extremely demeaning to women,” said Suzanne Born, member of the Minneapolis Civil Rights Commission, which on Monday branded the ad designed by the Fallon McElligott agency as sexist.

The commission’s ruling came four months after the agency apologized to the same commission for racist and sexist remarks directed at the director of the Women’s Center at Mankato State University. The agency lost a major account as a result of that controversy.

Fred Senn, director of account services for the Minneapolis agency, said Monday that the ad attacks a serious problem. “It’s vulgar. It’s hard hitting, but you’ve got to scare these kids out of using that stuff,” he said.

The poster, part of the University of Minnesota’s campaign against use of steroids by athletes, shows a female wearing shorts with the caption: “Steroids: They’ll make a man out of you yet.”

The poster does not show male genitalia directly, but shows “a bulge, as it were,” according to Gail Shore, a public affairs officer for the Women’s Athletic Department.

Many athletes take steroids to increase muscle bulk, but the drugs can cause emotional and physical problems, including kidney ailments. The posters were produced for the Men’s Athletic Department and were withdrawn in January, said Mark Banker, an intern on the department’s promotions and advertising staff.

Baker said only five to 10 posters were actually sold before they were withdrawn following a complaint from the Women’s Athletic Department.

Senn said the agency warned the men’s department that the posters were potentially controversial, but Born asked why the women’s department was not consulted from the beginning.

Senn told the board on Monday the agency has hired a consultant in an effort to to nurture sensitivity toward race and sex issues, but some commissioners were skeptical.

“It says to me that you really haven’t learned anything. You’re paying lip service but you just don’t get it,” Born said. “Your agency continues to come up with sexist ad campaigns.”

In January, Fallon McElligott President Pat Fallon apologized to Neala Schleuning, head of the Mankato Women’s Center, for sending her a photo of an African boy apparently kissing the back end of a cow.

An accompanying letter suggested Schleuning use her energies to rid the world of such barbaric rituals, rather than criticizing the agency for negative stereotypes of women in its ads.

Fallon McElligott, known as a hot and growing agency with $140 million in billings, was asked to withdraw from competition for future US West business as a result of that controversy. The telecommunications company provided $8 million of the agency’s annual billings.

A US West spokeswoman said at the time that the company had expressed its objections to the letters “in the very strongest terms.”

Although the city civil rights commission vote carries no direct consequences, chairwoman Ophelia Bancos said: “We just wanted them to be aware that they we are unhappy with what they are doing. The only thing we can do is ask them to change their ads.”