Petition Against BMW Ad that Degrades Women
Target:
BMW World Headquarters ATTN: Norbert Reithofer
Sponsored by:
In July 2008, BMW in Greece released an advertisement for BMW Premium Used Cars depicting a young, teenage girl with the line, "You know you're not the first." The sexist ad degrades women by comparing women to used cars and is especially disturbing because the sex object appears to be a child (under the age of 18).
We the undersigned ask that the CEO of BMW, Norbert Reithofer, and the creators of the advertisement, Theodossis Papanikolaou and David Kaneen, issue a public apology and cease to distribute the advertisement.
In July 2008, BMW in Greece released an advertisement for BMW Premium Used Cars depicting a young, teenage girl with the line, "You know you're not the first." The sexist ad degrades women by comparing women to used cars and is especially disturbing because the sex object appears to be a child (under the age of 18).
We the undersigned ask that the CEO of BMW, Norbert Reithofer, and the creators of the advertisement, Theodossis Papanikolaou and David Kaneen, issue a public apology and cease to distribute the advertisement.
We the undersigned are appalled by a recent advertisement that BMW ran for its Premium Selection Used Cars. The advertisement, which depicts a young woman and the line, "You know you're not the first," is degrading and insulting. Arguably, the young woman appears to be a teenage girl which makes the advertisement even more inappropriate. Women represent the largest purchasing block in the world and this advertisement has put BMW at risk of losing female purchasers.
We ask that BMW issue a public apology for the insulting advertisement. We also ask that BMW cease to print this advertisement. In the future, please be more considerate and mindful of your advertising decisions.
Thank you for your time.
We signed the "Petition Against BMW Ad that Degrades Women" petition!
# 57:
7:54 pm PST, Jan 8,
Name not displayed, Delaware
# 56:
9:02 am PST, Jan 3,
Laura Zanoli, Italy
# 55:
7:10 am PST, Jan 1,
Jennifer Gardner, Florida
# 54:
6:07 pm PST, Nov 9,
Jamie Scott, Texas
# 53:
7:48 pm PST, Nov 6,
Carolyn Hesse, Washington
# 52:
10:42 am PDT, Oct 10,
Name not displayed, Canada
# 51:
7:37 am PDT, Oct 10,
Name not displayed, Canada
Please respect women's dignity and honour. Would you do this to you mother, sisters and wives?
Please respect women's dignity and honour. Would you do this to you mother, sisters and wives?
# 50:
8:31 am PDT, Oct 6,
Dorothy Hanlon, Canada
I'd be delighted to assist creators of the advertisment, Theodossis Papankolaou and David Keenen with their marketing efforts.
I'd be delighted to assist creators of the advertisment, Theodossis Papankolaou and David Keenen with their marketing efforts.
# 49:
1:03 pm PDT, Sep 24,
Jennifer Streeter, Arizona
# 48:
10:19 am PDT, Sep 13,
IndianasShame Teardropsforkatelynn, Indiana
What...WOULD you do? * Sugar and spice and everything nice. * This is suppose to every little girls life. * What happens when life is not like that? * What if your life is filled with constant abuse by the people who suppose to protect you? * For little Katelynn of Indiana, her life is filled with this from a father, stepmother and father's family; everyone but her the relatives that love her have been deined the ability to see her. * What happens when the police will not stop this? * Than try Child Protection Service, but they will not stop this either. * The next thing to do is go to the court. * What would you do if the Child Protection Services and the court helped the abusers hurt her? * The media might work but they ignore majority of average people. * In this search for help, several politicians ignored or said stop bothering them. * If these people will not help little katelynn of Indiana than who will? * Will this little girl have to pay the ultimate price for these adults mistakes? * Now..., what WILL you do?! * This is Indiana's Shame and these words are Teardrops for Katelynn * referral sources: * www.courageouskids.net * Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation :: Breaking the Silence: Children's Stories Aired on PBS http://www.mkacf.org/BreakTheSilence.html Breaking the Silence * http://sev.prnewswire.com/entertainment/20051019/CLW50819102005-1.html * http://www.tatgelasseur.com/pages/bts.html Battered Women, Abused Children, and Child Custody: A NATIONAL CRISIS * http://www.batteredmotherscustodyconference.org/ * Petition for Justice for Katelynn: http://www.gopetition.com/online/5918.html * Don't let these little abused children be abused in silence anymore, please. * Tell someone! * Demand answers! * Demand the children's truth! * Above all break through this silence for theses abused childrens sake! * No adults rights is greater than the right of the child to be safe!
What...WOULD you do? * Sugar and spice and everything nice. * This is suppose to every little girls life. * What happens when life is not like that? * What if your life is filled with constant abuse by the people who suppose to protect you? * For little Katelynn of Indiana, her life is filled with this from a father, stepmother and father's family; everyone but her the relatives that love her have been deined the ability to see her. * What happens when the police will not stop this? * Than try Child Protection Service, but they will not stop this either. * The next thing to do is go to the court. * What would you do if the Child Protection Services and the court helped the abusers hurt her? * The media might work but they ignore majority of average people. * In this search for help, several politicians ignored or said stop bothering them. * If these people will not help little katelynn of Indiana than who will? * Will this little girl have to pay the ultimate price for these adults mistakes? * Now..., what WILL you do?! * This is Indiana's Shame and these words are Teardrops for Katelynn * referral sources: * www.courageouskids.net * Mary Kay Ash Charitable Foundation :: Breaking the Silence: Children's Stories Aired on PBS http://www.mkacf.org/BreakTheSilence.html Breaking the Silence * http://sev.prnewswire.com/entertainment/20051019/CLW50819102005-1.html * http://www.tatgelasseur.com/pages/bts.html Battered Women, Abused Children, and Child Custody: A NATIONAL CRISIS * http://www.batteredmotherscustodyconference.org/ * Petition for Justice for Katelynn: http://www.gopetition.com/online/5918.html * Don't let these little abused children be abused in silence anymore, please. * Tell someone! * Demand answers! * Demand the children's truth! * Above all break through this silence for theses abused childrens sake! * No adults rights is greater than the right of the child to be safe!
# 47:
4:02 pm PDT, Sep 7,
Ros Carter, Canada
you should not be able to use young girls in your advertisement and your ad is degrading to women. Shame on you.
you should not be able to use young girls in your advertisement and your ad is degrading to women. Shame on you.
# 46:
11:29 pm PDT, Sep 3,
Jayne Riley, United Kingdom
Have men ever thought that women might require them to be the first?
Have men ever thought that women might require them to be the first?
# 45:
10:30 am PDT, Aug 29,
Dana De Coursey, New York
This ad is ridiculous. The girl in the ad, although perhaps 'over 18' looks like a CHILD, and you people are sick as well as disgustingly chauvinistic.
This ad is ridiculous. The girl in the ad, although perhaps 'over 18' looks like a CHILD, and you people are sick as well as disgustingly chauvinistic.
# 44:
9:49 am PDT, Aug 28,
Mister Mister, Belgium
Still, she's hot... Wouldn't mind if I wasn't first.
Still, she's hot... Wouldn't mind if I wasn't first.
# 43:
10:49 am PDT, Aug 17,
Angela Rhodes, Greece
Wake up we are in 2008, what the hell is BMW thinking of?
Wake up we are in 2008, what the hell is BMW thinking of?
# 42:
9:37 am PDT, Aug 14,
Andi Alnwick, New York
# 41:
8:18 am PDT, Aug 14,
Michael Shoshani, Illinois
I find this advertisement degrading and insulting toward women. Please revise it. BMW is an international company, you really should know better.
I find this advertisement degrading and insulting toward women. Please revise it. BMW is an international company, you really should know better.
# 40:
4:28 pm PDT, Aug 11,
Jackie Coombs, United Kingdom
# 39:
7:23 am PDT, Aug 11,
Tamarah Swensen, Netherlands
# 38:
6:10 am PDT, Aug 11,
LuCy J Boogaard, Netherlands
# 37:
5:15 am PDT, Aug 10,
Greta Malkotzoglou, Greece
# 36:
2:20 pm PDT, Aug 8,
Name not displayed, Malaysia
# 35:
10:49 am PDT, Aug 8,
Marissa Galvanek, New Jersey
# 34:
8:50 am PDT, Aug 8,
FION YEE, Malaysia
# 33:
6:23 am PDT, Aug 8,
Kelsey Barosay, Virginia
# 32:
3:00 am PDT, Aug 7,
Hildur Lilliendahl Viggósdóttir, Iceland
I'm shocked.
I'm shocked.
# 31:
1:30 pm PDT, Aug 3,
IM Hirvonen, United Kingdom
Dear Mr Reithofer, Would you compare your wife, daughter, sister or mother to a used car? No? Then why this ad? I am at a loss as how to describe my disappointment with BMW and with you personally for sanctioning this kind of advertising. I do not feel the need to address Mssrs P and K, because they should obviously be employed elsewhere or not at all in the marketing industry. Their work lacks originality, creativity, or, in a world full of sexual images, even the shock-factor. It is simply crass and distasteful. P and K are incompetent for ignoring the majority of the market (not just women, but thinking men, too) and so is apparently the entire BMW marketing department for failing to stop this ad before it was released. Surely at your experience level, you are aware that female consumers are THE market, even for cars. You have allowed your firm to make an embarrassing and revealing mistake, and I hope that BMW's performance will suffer in comparison to its peers'. I know I will take my money elsewhere.
Dear Mr Reithofer, Would you compare your wife, daughter, sister or mother to a used car? No? Then why this ad? I am at a loss as how to describe my disappointment with BMW and with you personally for sanctioning this kind of advertising. I do not feel the need to address Mssrs P and K, because they should obviously be employed elsewhere or not at all in the marketing industry. Their work lacks originality, creativity, or, in a world full of sexual images, even the shock-factor. It is simply crass and distasteful. P and K are incompetent for ignoring the majority of the market (not just women, but thinking men, too) and so is apparently the entire BMW marketing department for failing to stop this ad before it was released. Surely at your experience level, you are aware that female consumers are THE market, even for cars. You have allowed your firm to make an embarrassing and revealing mistake, and I hope that BMW's performance will suffer in comparison to its peers'. I know I will take my money elsewhere.
# 30:
8:29 am PDT, Aug 2,
J R, California
I am NOT against this ad. Puritanical Americans need to be reminded that other countries have different outlook on life. When I moved to the US in 1975 I loved it here because it was a liberated country. Now it has become a puritanical country with far too many hang ups. It's becoming more and more like the Middle East. Get a life Americans don't be concerned about other people's ways of life.
I am NOT against this ad. Puritanical Americans need to be reminded that other countries have different outlook on life. When I moved to the US in 1975 I loved it here because it was a liberated country. Now it has become a puritanical country with far too many hang ups. It's becoming more and more like the Middle East. Get a life Americans don't be concerned about other people's ways of life.
# 29:
7:50 am PDT, Aug 2,
Laurie De La Rosa, Illinois
# 28:
11:53 pm PDT, Jul 29,
Lynn Barnes, Michigan
# 27:
2:43 pm PDT, Jul 29,
Himani K, New Jersey
# 26:
6:25 am PDT, Jul 29,
Sarah Mills, United Kingdom
This advert is disgusting and the idea that women can be "used" or "second hand" is abhorrent, misogynistic and utterly insulting.
This advert is disgusting and the idea that women can be "used" or "second hand" is abhorrent, misogynistic and utterly insulting.
# 25:
6:24 am PDT, Jul 29,
C Whitehouse, United Kingdom
# 24:
6:22 am PDT, Jul 29,
Louise Hinchliffe, United Kingdom
# 23:
6:21 am PDT, Jul 29,
Helen Atkins, United Kingdom
Drag yourselves into the 21st century. There is no place for this kind of advertising not such attitudes in the modern world. Sexism has never had a justifiable role to play in society, but whatever happened to evolution?
Drag yourselves into the 21st century. There is no place for this kind of advertising not such attitudes in the modern world. Sexism has never had a justifiable role to play in society, but whatever happened to evolution?
# 22:
6:19 am PDT, Jul 29,
Abigail Stepnitz, United Kingdom
# 21:
6:18 am PDT, Jul 29,
Sarah Edwards, United Kingdom
# 20:
6:07 am PDT, Jul 29,
Claire Connachan, United Kingdom
# 19:
4:54 pm PDT, Jul 28,
Name not displayed, New York
# 18:
1:12 pm PDT, Jul 28,
Nick McGuire, Ohio
# 17:
3:15 pm PDT, Jul 26,
Deborah Hixson, Germany
# 16:
4:59 am PDT, Jul 26,
Yvonne DiVita, New York
Hoax or not? Some say it is. BMW, it's time to step up and take charge. If you did not create and approve this ad, get it off the web. If you did, apologize and get it off the web. Using a child to sell your used cars, in a provocative, suggestive, sexual manner is - blatantly soft-core porn. If that's the kind of people you think want to buy your used cars, what a sad world you live in.
Hoax or not? Some say it is. BMW, it's time to step up and take charge. If you did not create and approve this ad, get it off the web. If you did, apologize and get it off the web. Using a child to sell your used cars, in a provocative, suggestive, sexual manner is - blatantly soft-core porn. If that's the kind of people you think want to buy your used cars, what a sad world you live in.
# 15:
2:10 am PDT, Jul 26,
Vanessa Weeks, New York
# 14:
7:41 pm PDT, Jul 25,
Suzie Gordon, New Hampshire
# 13:
11:13 am PDT, Jul 25,
ALPHA WI, Germany
# 12:
2:49 am PDT, Jul 25,
Steve Klein, Canada
# 11:
12:43 am PDT, Jul 25,
Bill Craig, Germany
# 10:
7:42 pm PDT, Jul 24,
Steve Dale, Australia
# 9:
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5:01 pm PDT, Jul 24,
Niki Colette, North Carolina
Women are not sex objects to begin with. However, including a CHILD makes this ad all the sicker. This ad's creators should be fired for insulting women and for failing to come up with anything tasteful. |
# 8:
4:18 pm PDT, Jul 24,
Kelly Garbato, Missouri
# 7:
3:25 pm PDT, Jul 24,
Name not displayed, Maryland
# 6:
3:02 pm PDT, Jul 24,
Octavian Ciubotariu, Canada
# 5:
11:27 am PDT, Jul 24,
Pam Boland, Georgia
# 4:
11:22 am PDT, Jul 24,
Ardith Lowell, Idaho
Dear Board of BMW, What are you thinking? As both a woman and marketer I can't imagine that any real intelligence is behind this paricular campaign. As I mentioned in a note I sent via your online contact form, your team is sadly, tastelessly, and stupidly risking alienating the largest purchasing power on the planet, women. So beyond the horrendous insult and injury you do to young girls, you are seemingly oblivious to the economic logic of your error. My advice to you, fix it fast.
Dear Board of BMW, What are you thinking? As both a woman and marketer I can't imagine that any real intelligence is behind this paricular campaign. As I mentioned in a note I sent via your online contact form, your team is sadly, tastelessly, and stupidly risking alienating the largest purchasing power on the planet, women. So beyond the horrendous insult and injury you do to young girls, you are seemingly oblivious to the economic logic of your error. My advice to you, fix it fast.
# 3:
10:33 am PDT, Jul 24,
MaryAnn Ellison, Connecticut
This advertisement almost advocates CHILD PORN!
This advertisement almost advocates CHILD PORN!
# 2:
10:23 am PDT, Jul 24,
JOSSIE A ROSS, Canada
# 1:
10:20 am PDT, Jul 24,
Natalie MacNeil, Canada
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