Safe Sex Ads to be Reinstated - An outdoor advertising company has reversed its controversial decision to pull down safe-sex awareness signs featuring a hugging, gay couple.
Adshel, which copped widespread criticism over the removal of the signs from Brisbane bus shelters, announced this afternoon the signs would be reinstated after accepting complaints had been “orchestrated” by the Australian Christian Lobby.
'Why the fuss?' asks poster star
“Adshel earlier responded to a series of complaints by removing the campaign from its media panels yesterday,” the company said in a statement on its website this afternoon.
“None of the complaints indicated any liaison with the ACL, so Adshel was made to believe that they originated from individual members of the public.”
Adshel chief executive Steve McCarthy said it was now clear that Adshel had been the target of a co-ordinated ACL campaign against the “Rip and Roll” advertisements designed by the Queensland Association for Healthy Communities.
“This has led us to review our decision to remove the campaign and we will therefore reinstate the campaign with immediate effect,” he said.
This safe sex advertisement has been pulled from Brisbane bus shelters after the Australian Christian Lobby complained it was offensive.
ACL Queensland director Wendy Francis, who earlier said there had been a co-ordinated attempt to have the ads removed, condemned the decision to reinstate the ads.
Ms Francis denied she led an orchestrated ACL campaign against the billboards, saying she had personally raised concern about the ads on her Facebook page promoting G-rated outdoor advertising and contacted her friends about the issue. She blasted the decision to reinstate the ads as a “loss for our children” but said it reflected people power.
“I really think people power is what is winning in this particular case and it’s who’s got the most people complaining about it,” she told this website.
“I think people would be supportive of the message it [the advertisement] is promoting but I don’t think ... people want safe-sex messaging placed on bus shelters where schoolchildren wait for the bus.
“The message is OK, the placement of the message is not OK.”
Ms Francis was last year forced to apologise publicly after a Tweet likening gay marriage to legalising child abuse. Then a Family First candidate for the Senate, she claimed the tweet was sent from her office, but not by her.
Earlier today, about 30 people attended a protest, organised on Twitter and Facebook in a matter of hours, to condemn the company’s decision to pull down posters from the Rip and Roll anti-HIV campaign.
Led by Queensland Association for Healthy Communities general manager Paul Martin, the group appealed to executives inside the Adshel office to come forward and apologise, replace the posters and offer some compensation.
Mr Martin said the total spend for the campaign, which included billboards on Goa sites as well as the contested AdShel bus shelter locations, was about $60,000.
About $45,000 of that budget went to the Adshel campaign, which was due to end in a matter of days.
“We actually only booked the campaign for two weeks, that’s all the time we had money for,” Mr Martin said.
The adverts feature a black and white image of a gay couple embracing, holding an unopened red condom packet. It includes the website address and hotline for Healthy Communities, which has been receiving state government funding for sexual health promotion since 1988.
Earlier, an Adshel spokeswoman defended its decision to remove the posters and denied it had been lobbied by the Australian Christian Lobby, saying it responded to a “series of individual complaints”.
“The decision to remove the posters was made on the basis of the large number of complaints received,” she said in a statement.
“Adshel does not take a position regarding the views or position of various community groups.”
Treasurer Andrew Fraser said ACL needed to get with the times.
‘‘Check the calendar, it’s 2011,’’ he said. ‘‘I think we should call it for what it is and this is basic homophobia.
‘‘These ads have been a part of public programs for a long time, they serve a public interest.
‘‘Anyone who suggests that these are explicit I think is not telling the truth.’’
Earlier, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh leant her support to the Rip and Roll campaign on Twitter by retweeting a comment from a Gold Coast resident who stated: “Dear #adshel, thousands of united Australians are stronger than a handful of homophobes. RT [retweet] if you agree #ripnroll.”
Advertising Standards Bureau chief executive Fiona Jolly said the organisation had no part in the removal of the advertisements, saying it had so far acted only as “conduit” for complaints.
Ms Jolly said complaints received by the bureau were passed on to the advertiser, but not the owner of the advertising space, in this case Adshel.
“We made the advertiser aware of complaints as they come in, but the advertiser isn’t obliged to remove an ad unless the board decides that the ad breaches community standards,” she said.
Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said he personally had no issue with the campaign, which took place on Brisbane City Council-owned infrastructure.
"It is my job to represent the whole of this city. It’s a broad city, and I think the message of health is an important message," Cr Quirk said.
“Was the advertising provocative? Well some might suggest that it was but the message is the important thing and I think that the message is very important.”
Queensland Liberal National Party leader Campbell Newman was reluctant to weigh into the ad controversy, saying he had not yet seen the signs. However, Mr Newman reminded reporters that he supported legalising gay marriage and called on the community to show tolerance.
“I have a very open mind about these things and I urge other people to be tolerant and open-minded as well,” he said.
Australian Sex Party Queensland Coordinator Rory Killen said homophobia, rather than concern for children, had driven the removal of the advertisements. Healthy Communities said 2010 saw a higher number of people diagnosed with HIV than at any time since testing began in the mid-1980s.
With 65 per cent of those diagnoses among gay men, it was more important than ever to talk openly about safe sex, it said. Brisbane City Council, which owns the bus stop panels, declined to comment on the removal of the advertisements, saying “the council had no involvement in this matter”. ( Sydney Morning Herald )
Adshel, which copped widespread criticism over the removal of the signs from Brisbane bus shelters, announced this afternoon the signs would be reinstated after accepting complaints had been “orchestrated” by the Australian Christian Lobby.
'Why the fuss?' asks poster star
“Adshel earlier responded to a series of complaints by removing the campaign from its media panels yesterday,” the company said in a statement on its website this afternoon.
“None of the complaints indicated any liaison with the ACL, so Adshel was made to believe that they originated from individual members of the public.”
Adshel chief executive Steve McCarthy said it was now clear that Adshel had been the target of a co-ordinated ACL campaign against the “Rip and Roll” advertisements designed by the Queensland Association for Healthy Communities.
“This has led us to review our decision to remove the campaign and we will therefore reinstate the campaign with immediate effect,” he said.
This safe sex advertisement has been pulled from Brisbane bus shelters after the Australian Christian Lobby complained it was offensive.
ACL Queensland director Wendy Francis, who earlier said there had been a co-ordinated attempt to have the ads removed, condemned the decision to reinstate the ads.
Ms Francis denied she led an orchestrated ACL campaign against the billboards, saying she had personally raised concern about the ads on her Facebook page promoting G-rated outdoor advertising and contacted her friends about the issue. She blasted the decision to reinstate the ads as a “loss for our children” but said it reflected people power.
“I really think people power is what is winning in this particular case and it’s who’s got the most people complaining about it,” she told this website.
“I think people would be supportive of the message it [the advertisement] is promoting but I don’t think ... people want safe-sex messaging placed on bus shelters where schoolchildren wait for the bus.
“The message is OK, the placement of the message is not OK.”
Ms Francis was last year forced to apologise publicly after a Tweet likening gay marriage to legalising child abuse. Then a Family First candidate for the Senate, she claimed the tweet was sent from her office, but not by her.
Earlier today, about 30 people attended a protest, organised on Twitter and Facebook in a matter of hours, to condemn the company’s decision to pull down posters from the Rip and Roll anti-HIV campaign.
Led by Queensland Association for Healthy Communities general manager Paul Martin, the group appealed to executives inside the Adshel office to come forward and apologise, replace the posters and offer some compensation.
Mr Martin said the total spend for the campaign, which included billboards on Goa sites as well as the contested AdShel bus shelter locations, was about $60,000.
About $45,000 of that budget went to the Adshel campaign, which was due to end in a matter of days.
“We actually only booked the campaign for two weeks, that’s all the time we had money for,” Mr Martin said.
The adverts feature a black and white image of a gay couple embracing, holding an unopened red condom packet. It includes the website address and hotline for Healthy Communities, which has been receiving state government funding for sexual health promotion since 1988.
Earlier, an Adshel spokeswoman defended its decision to remove the posters and denied it had been lobbied by the Australian Christian Lobby, saying it responded to a “series of individual complaints”.
“The decision to remove the posters was made on the basis of the large number of complaints received,” she said in a statement.
“Adshel does not take a position regarding the views or position of various community groups.”
Treasurer Andrew Fraser said ACL needed to get with the times.
‘‘Check the calendar, it’s 2011,’’ he said. ‘‘I think we should call it for what it is and this is basic homophobia.
‘‘These ads have been a part of public programs for a long time, they serve a public interest.
‘‘Anyone who suggests that these are explicit I think is not telling the truth.’’
Earlier, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh leant her support to the Rip and Roll campaign on Twitter by retweeting a comment from a Gold Coast resident who stated: “Dear #adshel, thousands of united Australians are stronger than a handful of homophobes. RT [retweet] if you agree #ripnroll.”
Advertising Standards Bureau chief executive Fiona Jolly said the organisation had no part in the removal of the advertisements, saying it had so far acted only as “conduit” for complaints.
Ms Jolly said complaints received by the bureau were passed on to the advertiser, but not the owner of the advertising space, in this case Adshel.
“We made the advertiser aware of complaints as they come in, but the advertiser isn’t obliged to remove an ad unless the board decides that the ad breaches community standards,” she said.
Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said he personally had no issue with the campaign, which took place on Brisbane City Council-owned infrastructure.
"It is my job to represent the whole of this city. It’s a broad city, and I think the message of health is an important message," Cr Quirk said.
“Was the advertising provocative? Well some might suggest that it was but the message is the important thing and I think that the message is very important.”
Queensland Liberal National Party leader Campbell Newman was reluctant to weigh into the ad controversy, saying he had not yet seen the signs. However, Mr Newman reminded reporters that he supported legalising gay marriage and called on the community to show tolerance.
“I have a very open mind about these things and I urge other people to be tolerant and open-minded as well,” he said.
Australian Sex Party Queensland Coordinator Rory Killen said homophobia, rather than concern for children, had driven the removal of the advertisements. Healthy Communities said 2010 saw a higher number of people diagnosed with HIV than at any time since testing began in the mid-1980s.
With 65 per cent of those diagnoses among gay men, it was more important than ever to talk openly about safe sex, it said. Brisbane City Council, which owns the bus stop panels, declined to comment on the removal of the advertisements, saying “the council had no involvement in this matter”. ( Sydney Morning Herald )
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