Brits Still Leading PC Charge

I think most Americans would agree that government just doesn't have a place in your girlfriend's brassiere. But not Brits.

The English magazine Zoo has been dinged by the government's Advertising Standards Authority for running a contest that promised "a L4,000 boob job for your partner , and a L1,000 cash prize for you!" (If anybody can tell me how to coax a pound sign out of Blogger, I'd be indebted.)

The ad cops weren't amused:

The industry watchdog ruled: "We considered that the advert could coerce women into having breast enlargement surgery.

"We considered that, because breast enlargement surgery was a serious surgical procedure that could cause physical and psychological damage, the advert was irresponsible." (source)

Of course the ad is tasteless and shallow, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that the readers of Zoo are tasteless and shallow as well, so this is a well targeted marketing campaign. I'm also going to assume that big girls have the mental capacity to decide for themselves whether the risk of becoming bigger girls is worth it, without government getting involved.

Meanwhile, the same agency deemed an ad that ran on national TV for all to see (unlike the Zoo promotion, which was in the magazine) that had a female maniquin get visibly aroused after a ride in a Mazda was all right, saying the ad "may not have been to everyone's taste but we did not consider it likely to cause serious or widespread offence." (source)

So showing nipples, albeit false ones, in prime time is OK, but giving away false breasts is not. You need a guidebook to get the PC stuff right, and CS-M is glad to have this opportunity to help -- and to provide just a bit more evidence that social democracies infringe on reason and personal freedom.

h/t Media Bistro