#Fail: "Ride me" bus ad sparks fierce online backlash
The poorly judged New Adventure Travel ad was rolled out in an effort to "make catching the bus attractive to the younger generation."
The poorly judged New Adventure Travel ad was rolled out in an effort to "make catching the bus attractive to the younger generation."
A south Wales bus company has been forced to withdraw an advertising campaign depicting semi-naked men and women holding a billboard reading “ride me all day for £3” following an intense online outcry .
The poorly judged New Adventure Travel ad was rolled out in an effort to “make catching the bus attractive to the younger generation.”
Hey @NAT_Group aren’t half of your customers women? Have you thought this through? #EverydaySexism pic.twitter.com/i4qghEZFSh
— EverydaySexism (@EverydaySexism) May 11, 2015
A statement from the company reads: “Firstly we have stated that our objectives have been to make catching the bus attractive to the younger generation. We therefore developed an internal advertising campaign featuring males and females to hold boards to promote the cost of our daily tickets.
“The slogan of ‘ride me all day for £3’ whilst being a little tongue in cheek was in no way intended to cause offence to either men or women and, if the advert has done so then we apologise unreservedly. There has certainly been no intention to objectify either men or women.”
The ad has attracted the attention of many on social media and has even raised hackles in the House of Common’s from angry MPs. The company will be removing the ads within the next 24 hours “given the volume of negativity received”.
Ten buses in total have the ad plastered on their rear end, with a variety of topless men and women holding the sign.
Take a look at some of the angry online comments:
@NAT_Group bus in Cardiff is vile. Women face enough harassment on busses without use of sexually explicit language. pic.twitter.com/hxsM8AihIm — Xavier B (@Jxlb1) May 11, 2015
.@NAT_Group just saw this advert on a bus in Canton, and it’s an absolutely unacceptable way of advertising a bus ticket @EverydaySexism — We Are Cardiff (@WeAreCardiff) May 11, 2015
Just spoke to MD @NAT_Group to express disgust at adverts – he tells me it’s a “misjudgement” + will scrap within the hour #everydaysexism — Stephen Doughty (@SDoughtyMP) May 11, 2015
Hi @cardiffcouncil Are you aware this advert is on buses operating in our city today? It is repulsive! Please ban it! http://t.co/nVXu2HLttk
— Lisa Derrick (@lisajderrick) May 11, 2015
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