An advert for a self-storage company has caused a stir after being described as "sexist".
To be fair, it does include a picture of a woman pretending to perform oral sex on a man with the caption "Caught with your pants down? Need storage? Don't blow it on another firm!"
Subtlety is not this advertiser's strong suit, it's fair to say. In fact, it is about as subtle as having a storage unit dropped on your head.
The offending advertisement has been spotted on toilet doors and walls inside pubs in the Scunthorpe area of Lincolnshire. The company behind it is Container King, a storage company with premises in Lincolnshire and The Humber.
Of course, gents toilets have long been a place where you can get away with putting up a sexist advert or two, but this appears to have gone too far.
One person who captured a photo of the poster tweeted out: "The 1970s called and they'd like their advert back #everydaysexism."
Another added: "I was amazed that this kind of image is still considered acceptable by anyone in 2019. Also I have no idea what it has to do with storage units."
That much is true. It doesn't seem to have a great deal to do with storage - which is an important concern, let's not forget.
The picture itself does leave all of the main parts to the imagination, thankfully. However, the intended meaning is clear. The woman is crouched down at the man's crotch area, and the guy's eyes are rolling back in his head
You don't have to be a genius to work out the implication.
A spokesperson for Container King expressed their surprise at the advert. They said: "We are a family company,
"We do adverts in toilets in pubs, nothing big time at all.
"We do a few funny things, but nothing like that."
The plot thickens.
Advert
To be fair, they're not the first company to fall foul of this sort of thing...
Anyway, it is not unreasonable to think that the Advertising Standards Agency might have a couple of words to say on the matter.
New rules came into force at the beginning of 2019 that prohibited the use of what the ASA deem to be "harmful" or "sexist" gender stereotypes.
In fact, they specifically said that trying to be funny isn't a valid excuse anymore.
ASA spokesperson Ella Smillie told The Guardian: "Changing ad regulation isn't going to end gender inequality but we know advertising can reinforce harmful gender stereotypes, which can limit people's choices or potential in life.
"Advertisers are already going in this direction. Tired old tropes don't really work with consumers any more,
"The use of humour or banter is unlikely to mitigate against the potential for harm. It's fine to show people undertaking gender-stereotypical roles such a woman cleaning.
"But if an advert showed a woman being solely responsible for cleaning up mess within a home while a man sits around with his feet up, then that would be a problem."
Whilst she didn't directly address the issue of advertising storage by depicting a sex act, you'd have to imagine that it would fall foul of one or other rule.
Well, you'd hope so.
Featured Image Credit: Triangle News