OK, everyone. Say with me now. Ready? 1…2…3…deep breaths. Relax. It’s not world war III (or Z). No animals were harmed in the making of this ad. There’s no nudity. But, OMG…it is rape-y. At least according to U.K.-based Rape Crisis. The cause group believes an ad for London cab company, Data Cars, which shows a woman caught in the rain, implies she is a rape victim.
Wait, what? Hello? It rains in London. A lot. Whenever it feels like it. When you least expect it. And, just like the ad’s concept, when you aren’t dressed for it. So a poor woman is caught in a downpour while dolled up in a nice dress on her way to a party, a cab company decides to use that imagery to explain the importance of using a car service in questionable weather…and they get accused of implying the woman was just raped?
No, she wasn’t just raped. She’s wet. She’s cold. She’s pissed off her dress is getting ruined by the rain. And, yes, she wished she had called a car.
Rape Crisis spokesperson Katie Russell said the ad (a postcard mailer) was “a really unfortunate and misguided piece of advertising. The best case scenario, giving the company the benefit of the doubt, is that they’re not aware of the associations that the image on this postcard conjures. The worst case scenario is that they’ve knowingly used scare-mongering, sexist and victim-blaming imagery and messaging in a cynical marketing ploy.”
So wait. Every picture of every woman walking in the rain implies the woman was just raped? Have we really become that PC or exponentially over-sensitive to the point we see bad things everywhere we look? Can we no longer see things for what they are? In this case, a poor woman caught in the rain wearing a nice dress?
Defending the ad, Data Cars Manager Les Chapman told the Mail his inspiration for the image in the ad was seeing his daughters come home drenched after being caught in the rain while out on the town.
In another example of people seeing things that are simply not there, one person tweeted, “Check the bruises on her arms. That’s what bothered me. “Use our cabs- or u gonna get RAPED!”
Seriously? Really? Bruises? Where? It’s called a shadow, silly.
Anyway, the back of the post card, which you can see below, quickly and clearly gets to the point of the mailing’s concept. The copy begins, “Hey Girls. You should look just as great coming home as you did going out, so don’t gamble on the weather.” Simple and straight to the point messaging that aligns perfectly with the image on the front of the card.
Mountain out of a mole hill.
Front of postcard:
Back of postcard:
