SLK: fuss about erotic advertising

According to a press release, the Swiss Commission for Fair Trading (SLK) rarely receives complaints from Ticino. This time, however, there were a dozen. However, they all concerned the same subject: a poster advertising an internet erotic portal had caused quite a stir in the sunny canton. The complainants considered the depiction to constitute sexist advertising because the woman depicted served as an object of subjugation and exploitation. In addition, the deliberate typographical change in the text created an ambiguity that was also to be condemned.

The Second Chamber of the SLK only partially agreed with the complainants. It did not consider the pictorial implementation to be sexist at all, as there is a recognizable connection between the lightly dressed female model and the service offered by an internet erotic portal. With regard to the second criticism, however, the SLK agreed with the complainants: Due to the fact that in the Italian headline "Scoprimi" (discover me) the letters R and I were placed with practically no space between them, one could recognize an A at a cursory glance and think it was called Scopami, which vulgarly means "fuck me". The SLK writes: "This typographical effect was obviously intended by the respondent, which is why the complaint is to be upheld in this context." The advertisers were asked to refrain from this ambiguous and vulgar representation in future.