You see an advertisement depicting a woman with a pair of underwear wrapped around her ankles. She is lying on the bathroom floor. You can’t see her face, but it’s obvious from the ominous shadow in the corner and the caption written in all-caps that something is wrong.
So what exactly is being advertised? Is it an R-rated movie? Adult films? Lingerie?
Nope, this is an ad put out by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) as part of a campaign to discourage binge drinking among adults ages 21 to 29. This particular ad is meant to decrease the incidence of date rape. The message in the white text says not to let friends drink irresponsibly because it can put them at increased risk of sexual assault, but many groups and individuals argue that the image sends a mixed message.
This is one of the PLCB’s controversial ads meant to decrease the incidence of date rape.
Penn Women’s Center director Felicity Paxton is concerned about the ad because of the graphic and violent image it depicts. And, the disassociation of body parts — you can’t see anything but the model’s legs — is a technique used in porn and in many TV ads.
Nina Harris, the Violence Prevention Educator at the Penn Women’s Center, added that the “objectifying nature of the image is insensitive to victims and possible victims.”
That doesn’t really exclude anyone. Basically, it’s insensitive to anyone who views it.
“Ads of this nature contribute to victim blaming,” Paxton said.
PLCB spokesperson Stacy Kriedeman assured HC that it was “never [their] intent to blame the victim or the friends. Our goal was to raise awareness about a significant health issue and raise discussion.”
Every part of the campaign—which includes six posters, a website and coasters—was vetted internally and approved by the board. Its ads were the result of research and consultation with advocacy and focus groups. From their research, PLCB came to two conclusions: 1. Most people admitted to having friends who binge drink, but were more hesitant to say if they were binge drinkers themselves, and 2. there was a need for a campaign targeting people who could legally drink.
So, they created a campaign that aimed to protect the friends. Their campaign discusses different scenarios that can put drinkers at risk, such as starting fights and drinking to the point of intoxication.
“There’s nothing wrong with ads that promote moderation with regard to alcohol consumption,” said Paxton. But she believes this campaign was ill-conceived. She explained that ads that try to combine messages about drinking and sexual assault are prone to misfiring, and this was not the first ad campaign in which the message was lost.
Harris has another concern. She pointed out that the ad doesn’t focus on the perpetrator’s behavior. Rather than holding the rapist accountable, it focuses on the victim and her friends.
Paxton said it lends more weight to the idea of stranger rape, although it’s actually more common to be raped by someone you know. Also, she added that “most women are not raped in institutional bathrooms.”
There are two kinds of rape prevention strategies: risk reduction and primary prevention. The primary prevention strategy focuses on community response and understanding healthy relationships, while also recognizing that both men and women can be potential victims and bystanders. It acknowledges that rape has a broad social impact.
This ad is an example of a risk reduction strategy. The risk reduction strategy focuses on individual safety, potential victims and stranger attacks. It infers that women can avoid being victimized and blames the victim rather than the perpetrator. Akin to the argument that women are “asking for it” if they dress “slutty” or walk alone at night, it ignores the fact that rape is a societal issue.
“It shouldn’t matter,” Harris declared. The victim’s behavior is never a justification for rape.
“We knew it was a sensitive topic,” Kriedeman said. “Once we saw victims were being re-traumatized, we pulled it down.” She added that whereas the other ads appeared as posters in bar bathrooms, this particular ad was never placed because the organization understood the sensitivity of the issue. And on the site, they make it clear that perpetrators are the only ones to blame for rape.
The PLCB is currently discussing what processes are in place to make sure their future ads are less controversial.
What concerns me is that this was not the only ad pulled from the campaign. Harris noted that the PLCB took down another ad this month with the caption, “She’s never cheated on her boyfriend, until now.” Although it didn’t garner international press like the date rape ad did, it once again suggests the friends are in charge of making sure the woman in question doesn’t cheat.
I’m also concerned about the ad’s wording. “She didn’t want to do it, but she couldn’t say no” implies that the victim gave her consent. Consensual sex isn’t considered rape. The caption undercuts the message and transforms the scenario from rape to a regrettable act. And again, it (erroneously) becomes the victim’s fault.
Pennsylvania has some of the loosest sexual assault laws in the country. It is the only state that doesn’t allow expert testimony during rape cases—which means juries aren’t educated on the behavior of sexual assault victims and assailants. They must base their judgments solely on the testimony of those involved in the incident. Ads like PLCB’s date rape ad only perpetuate some of the ill-informed biases that still exist in our society.
I also have to wonder: why didn’t they include an ad discouraging people from taking advantage of drunk individuals? Why is their no educational material being put out for potential perpetrators of date rape?
The PLCB is correct in saying this is a topic that needs to be discussed. And it’s true that alcohol can lower your inhibitions. But, regardless of what PLCB’s intentions might have been, I’m not sure they’re the correct entity to discuss it.
What do you think, HC? Is this ad effective? Or is it just plain insensitive?