Fashion label
Volley has prompted outrage among Christian organizations in Australia who are
opposed to any change in the country’s marriage laws.
Australia does
not yet allow same-sex couples to marry. A growing number of organizations have
made their support for marriage equality clear, including the likes of Lush and
Qantas.
Last fall,
tennis shoe brand Volley produced a series of images and a video of couples
cavorting semi-naked.
The message
accompanying the video stated: ‘We’re sick of being socially engineered and we
shun political correctness. We’re young and we’re rooting for change. We are
children of the sun and are comfortable in our own skin, so don’t tell us who
to love or how to be.’
Complaints were
made about the adverts to the Australian Advertising Standards Board – not only
because of the nudity and same-sex intimacy, but as the word ‘rooting’ has a
double meaning as Australian slang.
It ruled that
the adverts did breach their code of ethics, so cannot be shown on TV. However,
the video is still on the company’s website – outraging the Australian
Christian Lobby. They say it is highly inappropriate for a company that sells
tennis shoes to kids.
Yesterday, its
head, Wendt Francis, took to Twitter to complain again about the adverts.
Today, the ACL
posted a further message to its blog.
‘Parents need
to be aware that Volley still sells shoes for school kids, but their website
has adult only images and deliberate sexual innuendo,’ Ms Francis warned.
‘The
Advertising Standards Board has already determined the advertising campaign
breached the advertising code, yet the same campaign remains on the
advertiser’s website.
‘Parents
considering what shoes to buy their children for going back to school now have
a new consideration apart from fit and durability; it’s about highly
inappropriate sex education from a shoe supplier.’
‘It would be
irresponsible for any company to ignore the wellbeing of children or the
community. If the material is inappropriate to distribute via email, as the
Advertising Standards Board has determined, it should not be online either,’
she said.
‘It is
disturbing if Volley Australia is delighted that concerns raised by parents
would drive publicity, as has been suggested in Fairfax
media and by a tweet from Volley Australia.
Volley, which
has also teamed up with Ansell condoms to promote ‘safe rooting’ as part of its
campaign, is still carrying the #grassroots campaign on its website. GSN has
approached the company for comment.
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