Feminists' fury at billboard which 'objectifies women'

A billboard advertising office space in Devon has caused a stir after residents complained that the poster is sexist.

The advert, promoting space for rent at Matford Business Centre in Exeter, features a large chested woman in a bikini next to the slogan “Size IS important”.

The combination of innuendo and provocative imagery has prompted a number of people to call for the removal of the poster on the grounds that it is “sexist” and “objectifies women”.

Among those taking action on the issue are members of Exeter Feminists. Group founder Ellis Taylor said:

“The blatant objectification of women in this advert is completely unnecessary and it is disappointing to see an Exeter business supporting old fashioned ideas.

“I don’t think the business is aware of the damage a poster like this can cause, it reinforces the idea that women are objects purely for men and that it is okay to treat them in such a way.

“The poster needs to be removed and the business needs to recognise the level of sexism and objectification which it is associating itself with.”

The advert has been displayed on a billboard at Marsh Barton trade estate for the past week and the company has already received at least 20 complaints and has been contacted by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

Matford’s managing director, Harry Langley, defended the company’s decision to use the image.

“We needed an effective way to advertise our office space. Looking at examples of adverts that have worked for other companies in the past, we saw that word play and images of women were the most successful,” he said.

“We combined the two factors with the aim of creating a humorous and memorable way of promoting our facilities. We compared our advert with other images around at the moment and judged it was acceptable.

“We have had some complaints, but we’ve also had people saying that we live in a liberal society and there’s nothing wrong with it. I’m in a situation where I can’t please everyone all of the time.”

A spokesman for the ASA confirmed they had received five complaints about the poster over the last few days.

He said that the organisation was currently establishing whether there were grounds to launch an investigation.

Mr Langley said that if the ASA ruled the advert was inappropriate, he would be happy to “put his hands up” and apologise.