I received an invitation to attend the launch of Goodtime Burgers in Bondi Junction, a new venture presumably replacing The Publican at The Eastern Hotel.
Yesterday afternoon, while flicking through the pages of The Beast, a free local monthly magazine with a distribution of 62,000, I spotted an advertisement for Goodtime Burgers. The ad showed a young woman lying on her side, her bottom enlarged to resemble a burger bun and between her buttocks lies a meat patty topped with lettuce, tomato and cheese. The words stated, “The Freshest Fun Between the Buns” and “Coming soon to Bondi Junction”. Hardly an appetising enticement for a burger, let alone a politically correct one.
Repulsed by the image and its implications, I took a photo of the advertisement and tweeted it on instagram.
Immediately, my tweet went viral and my phone buzzed for hours with retweets and replies such as these and continued well into the night.
The tweets went on with comments such as “Ass Burgers”, “Bogan Burgers” and “Burgerbutt”.
Later in the afternoon, I received a response on Instagram from @anatolirestaurant part of The Eastern Hotel along with Chimmi’s and El Topo.
For the record, I am not the type to jump on the feminist, sexist bandwagon in a public forum let alone on this website. Nor am I a prude or the killjoy type who doesn’t laugh at a dirty joke. I am definitely NOT sponsored or paid by Goodtime Burgers to create a pre-launch publicity stunt to bring attention to their new venture. I am simply sickened to the stomach by sexist schoolboy toilet humour used to sell a burger out of a woman’s arse.
Would it have been less offensive if it were a beef patty wedged in a man’s bum? Would it have been as funny if it were a hot dog positioned as male genitalia? And would it have had less impact had it been a burger sandwiched between a woman’s breasts? Regardless of the sexist implications – which I am not dismissing – that image remains indelible in my mind. I will no longer be attending the launch and I cannot bring myself to bite into Goodtime Burgers without thinking of this:
You can see the instagram photo HERE.
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Updated 16 December 2013
The Sunday Telegraph ran a follow up story on Sunday 15 December 2013, page 3. You can read it here:
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Updated 20 December 2013
News Sky Kiwi, a Chinese website from New Zealand reports on the story on 16 December 2013. You can read the translation here.
The NZ Herald reports on the story on 18 December 2013. You can read it here.
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Updated 13 January 2014
Goodtime Burgers publish an “apology” aka a full page advertisement in the January edition of The Beast Magazine which basically gives the middle finger to anyone who was offended by their first ad.
Jan 2, 2014 – Mumbrella reports “Graphic burger buns ad banned for degrading women”.
“In a statement The Board determined that “although the advertiser intended the image to be a humorous depiction, the close up image of the woman’s bottom and the portrayal of her bottom as a burger likened the woman to a piece of meat or object for consumption and objectified women. The Board also considered that this depiction of a woman as a burger is exploitative of women and degrading.”
Other stories follow in News.Com.Au, Good Food, The Guardian, Daily Mail just to name a few.
Jan 2, 2014 – “GoodTime Burgers responds to ad controversy” in a media release after the ban is announced defending its decision to use the image.
No doubt there will be more. But this is the last update from us here. Thank you to all who have sent us links, comments, emails and phone calls.
Thank you all for the overwhelming responses in your emails, private messages and social media this morning. Keep them coming…
And how often do we keep saying, this is *social* media. Be social, do your own, know your audience and DON’T outsource it…otherwise the consequences are, people who are using social media properly will make your mess up go viral! 😉
Julia
Long time reader, first time commenting. Toilet humour and food is the domain of amateurs so desperate to get a slice of a market they know they unable to get. I pity the sponsors and suppliers who soil their name by association. As a bloke, I find this so called “advert” immoral. Well written piece.
Sexist stuff aside, I just thought it was super tasteless…I don’t want to think about eating anything that’s been anywhere near someones bum. It’s just gross and a little stomach turning. ick!
Where can I see it, sounds a hoot. The Aussie culture has changed if we can’t laugh at this. Bet all the poo pooers live in the East.
Thank you for all the numerous comments, retweets, social media comments, emails and phone calls. Please appreciate that there are comments left here that cannot be published but we thank you for your support, feedback and insights.
I sometimes wonder how certain people are employed in the marketing industry. Surely marketing 101 teaches you not to advertise food by likening it to something which is inherently repulsive to consume…Sexism aside this is just unintelligent marketing.
[…] … and page 3 of the Sunday Telegraph for this story… […]
Did you see the fake apology (aka ad) they put up in the Beast? They claim it some erotic ploy to entice senses and tastebuds… yeah, if you’re into eating sh**.
Reeks of struggling business. That’s all I have to say.
[…] the sexism inherent in the image. Still, some people may wonder why we should care about such “sexist schoolboy toilet humour”, but the reality is that these images hold more power than we often give credit for. They posit […]