Male fox defuses sexism debate around SBB action
So much for only young, attractive women: SBB has now also hired a male fox for its controversial promotional campaign.
The fox campaign at the train station in Päffikon ZH is underway. Presumably not entirely without ulterior motives, SBB published a photo of the campaign via its official Twitter account on Monday morning, which is intended to provide relief for commuter rush hour. On display: A male and a female fox.
The action had provided in the run-up by a Seximus debate for plentiful media attention (Werbewoche.ch reported). The organization Terre des Femmes Switzerland criticized that only young women were sought for the "questionable" action. Juso president Tamara Funiciello found the whole thing, according to Blick, "beneath contempt". The advertisement was posted on the ETH job portal.
The company eventually backed down and stressed that male applicants were of course also welcome to apply. The campaign, in which students are paid 150 francs for two hours of platform promo, met with great interest despite the public discussion - just one day later, 20 female students had signed up. (Werbewoche.ch reported).
The fox volunteered
As media spokesman Reto Schärli tells Werbewoche, there was no active search for a male candidate - the applicant had come forward in response to the information provided shortly after the call that "of course" male foxes were also wanted, and had been selected for the campaign in Pfäffikon.
SBB would neither confirm nor deny that the engagement of the male fox was a direct reaction to the sexism debate. However, with the publication of the photo on Twitter, the campaign for the use of relief trains, which was actually intended to be local, has once again made it into the major national news portals.The next stops on the SBB fox tour are the stations of Bülach, Effretikon, Winterthur and Regensdorf. (hae)
