'Offensive' Yahoo ad pulled

The ITC has upheld complaints from both the heterosexual and homosexual communities and ordered an advertisement for internet giant Yahoo! pulled from the air due to its "outdated and offensive portrayal of gay men."

The ad, for Yahoo's personal finance services, showed a man tied to a tree in typical stag-night style accompanied by a voiceover which said: "you can't trust late nights. You can't trust your mates. You can't trust the kindness of strangers. You can only trust yourself." The "you can't trust the kindness of strangers" line was said while a scene showing a man, dressed in a "camp way", turned to stare with "interest and satisfaction" at the man tied to a tree, without offering to assist in his predicament.

The complaints, of which the ITC received twenty-four, said that the ad "used an outdated and offensive portrayal of gay men as effeminate, predatory and likely to seek opportunities for sex without consent." In addition, some complainants said that this sort of ad "was likely to increase fear and misunderstanding in the wider community, which in turn contributed to discrimination, abuse and physical attack." Four complainants considered that the scene "trivialised the issue of male rape, victims of which, they believed, were likely to be ridiculed and not offered necessary support."

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