'Disgusting' Ads Show Men in Cars Doing Gross Things

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By Jenni Ryall2014-07-25 08:41:08 UTC

SYDNEY — An advertising campaign for personalised number plates in Australia has received a large number of complaints from the public and has been labelled "sexist" and "disgusting".

The ads advised women to "man proof their cars" by purchasing MyPlates with feminine designs from the new "Le Chic" range.

The campaign asks: "Ladies, tired of that man smell in your car?" Before presenting the man-repulsing number plates as the solution.

See also: Man Creates Slick Ad to Sell Crappy 1999 Car

Daryl Head, the chief executive of Custom Creative who created the campaign, said he was "upset" by the number of complaints to the Australian Standards Bureau.

“The ferocity of the complaints has been quite upsetting. They are abusive, and the young ladies handling the complaints for me have been offended. That has rocked our socks off,” he told Mumbrella. “I don’t intend to offend and the ads are not designed to get complaints and get people upset. They are designed to be funny.”

The series of four ads present activities men may get up to while driving their partner's vehicle, from picking their nose to letting off wind. Another three ads will be released this weekend.

Paddy Douneen, the manager of marketing strategy and planning at MyPlates, told AdNews the commercials weren't meant to be taken seriously.

“The new Le Chic range of number plates aren’t designed to appeal to men, and this campaign highlights that in a tongue-in-cheek way,” she said.

Online commentators and the 350 viewers who called the Australian Standard Bureau to complain didn't see the funny side.

Commenter Adriano wrote: "This is all kinds of insulting. Is descending to severe gender stereotyping in advertising still working? I must have missed the note from 1981…"

While angry viewer Kath said: "Toilet humour may appeal to some, but I’m certainly not one of these people. I think these ads are really disrespectful to men which is just sad and to say they are in poor taste is an understatement. Not funny, not entertaining, not clever."

Paul responded in disgust on YouTube: "I've already complained to the Advertising Standards Council about one of these ads, but it needs others to do it. Apart from being disgusting and, in the case of the nose picking one, virtually unwatchable, they're highly sexist, implying that men are all filthy pigs and women have no unpleasant habits whatsoever. Nobody needs this kind of crap."

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Topics: ad, Advertising, Australia, Marketing, myplates, US & World