Advertisement

Lipstick kiss campaign poster is 'sexist'

The Local Austria
The Local Austria - [email protected]
Lipstick kiss campaign poster is 'sexist'
Julian Schmid in front of one of the posters. Photo: Herbert Pfarrhofer

A poster for a young male candidate for the Greens party who is campaigning for the Vienna elections has been deemed “sexist” by an advertising standards group.

Advertisement

Julian Schmid’s campaign poster shows his face covered in red lipstick kisses, with the slogan “I’m open for everything”.

The liberal Neos party complained to the Werbewatchgroup that the poster was sexist, and their complaint has been upheld. The watchdog said that the poster could suggest that Schmid is “open for sexual adventures” and that this is a case of “a male being sexualised”.

In a statement the group said that “whilst objectifying this man, the poster is also trying to, with a wink, acknowledge gender stereotyped patterns - where the man is seen as potent and polyamorous”.

The watchdog went on to say that because the red lipstick marks were associated with women (and not men), the poster also “effectively excluded non-heterosexual relationships".

Schmid, who is the Greens’ spokesperson for youth issues, told der Standard newspaper that the whole thing was “really embarrassing” but said that he thinks “politics should also be a little bit fun - and at least now we’ve drawn some attention to the campaign posters”.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also