An Australian tourism campaign aimed at gay travelers has yanked a phallocentric marketing image after local mainstream media outlets became, er, engorged over the pic, reports The Australian.
Touting Australia’s Gold Coast, the advert featured a tanned male in a skintight swimsuit that clearly spotlighted his endowment, with an accompanying tagline encouraging visitors to “check out our impressive packages…”
Though the spot was just one of several images used by Gold Coast Tourism on its microsite Gay Gold Coast, local media outlets like the Gold Coast Bulletin and the Australian Broadcasting Company honed in on the racy bulge, leading tourism bosses to pull it.
“The image was used as a lead image in news stories about our campaign, which we think is an incorrect interpretation of our marketing strategy,” Gold Coast Tourism’s Ben Pole told the Australian media site Mumbrella. “We didn’t want that image reducing our marketing strategy to a crotch shot. So we have removed it from our site.”
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The Gold Coast, a sunny and sprawling coastal city in Queensland, has reached out to international gay tourists in recent years. Long a favorite with LGBT Australians, it’s the country’s sixth largest city and the only one with GayComfort Accreditation by the UK-based Out Now Consulting.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
Spoilsports.
jeffinsydney
How ridiculous for OZ!
We would have to be one of the gayest and gay friendliest countries in the world.
We certainly are one of the most liberal in advertising; with womens breast completely exposed on the 6pm news, and at any time you open up any kind of media posts on any format………….and you are confronted by suggestive women showing lots of kitty kat…..
Queensland tourism decides to show where someone is hiding the sausage and the advertising counsel suddenly finds its scruples………….?
To anyone reading this: Please come down, we all love a good game of hide the sausie, even if our ad council is in denial.
Tel
Lol, a little sexual humor with an adult consumer in mind, I totally get that. But, I have to say I’m on the fence about this one. I think that so much of our advertising is sexually focused that it tends to lend credibility to this idea that this is the lot of what we are about. As if sex is the ONE sure bet for getting gays to spend money because, after all, that’s all we like to do is have sex and we will spend big bucks for the plethora of oppotunities to get it on with who knows who. I’m not totally against it but we need to be innovative and way more creative in the area of marketing and advertising. Straights are always saying we’re most creative so lets show’em how to do this thannnggg!
Stuart
Why should any LGBT tourist visit queensland after they got rid of civil unions and surrogate parenting.
Spike
Curious how it is that str8t women spend millions doing everything possible to push their utters front and center for all to see and depending on the weather – nipples for days, yet when it comes to a guys junk, only the Ken Doll bump is acceptable and definitely NO VPL!
Cam
So basically it’s gotten to the point where they can’t even use humor in advertising. Sad. It was a funny ad.
Soakman
@jeffinsydney:
I beg to differ. I spent 9 months in Melbourne and don’t think I’ve been more harassed and snubbed in my life.
I think it really depends on who you know. If you don’t know anyone, or have a liberal friend group to hang with, I’d say it’s no different than anywhere else.
Khristiaan
So even when dicks are covered up people are still ashamed. Wow. I guess men should cut off their dicks if its really that offensive. Forget the fact thats how men are made and every guy has this. Yeah forget that. And let’s forget that no one would have said a word if it was a pair of tits. No that would have been a perfect stragedy since men typically like to exploid women assuming everyone likes it. If women can have breasts shot I dont see how this is offensive and should be used
William
“Ben Pole”