Remember the Hunk Dorys hotties? Let us refresh your memory. Last year Irish chip brand Hunky Dorys strapped several women into bikinis and had them play rugby for an ad campaign. Predictably, there were complaints and the campaign was dubbed sexist by many who complained to the country’s Advertising Standards Authority.
Over the weekend, the brand debuted a new campaign which has scantily clad women playing soccer. A few complaints have been logged by the ASA so far.
One of the ads in the campaign contains the headlines, “Still staring?” next to the image of a scantily clad woman baring significant cleavage. A second ad features the same scantily clad woman revealing her ample assets next to the headline, “Taaaasty.” The Hunky Dory website contains all the imagery you’ll need to conjure up your perfect Gaelic football fantasy.
The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), an organization overseeing amateur sports such as hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders is not happy with the campaign because the Hunky Dorys hotties outfits look just like the uniforms worn by GAA players.
GAA President Joan O’Flynn had harsh words for Hunky Dorys and told the Irish Independent, “This is a gratuitous representation of women dressed as GAA players and is particularly ill-timed given that camogie’s top teams will be starring in Croke Park this Sunday. This is the week when our very best players, top-class female athletes who demonstrate the very best skills of their gender in sport and are ideal role models for young girls, will be lining out in our All-Ireland finals. To see such gratuitous and exploitative images of women being linked with sport, and also taking up valuable space in the media in the week of our All-Ireland finals, is particularly distasteful and disappointing.”
Just when does titillation and sexualization go too far? Did Hunky Dorys overstep a line in the sand here? Or is this just harmless, frivolous fun?
