Another inane ad bites the dust. When Terra footwear started selling their workboots with sexy images and 'adult films' on their website, they crossed the wrong bootclad women. The Manitoba Federation of Labour, which has more than 95,000 members, threatened a boycott against Terra over the ads. Canadian Auto Workers Local 444's women's committee wasn't marching far behind. The CAW, which at 250,000 members is one of the largest trade unions in Canada, began a campaign against Terra Footwear this week. Union leaders called and e-mailed the company and others with which it does business and began organizing demonstrations at stores where Terra products are sold, they also called their MP's demanding they pressure the firm to pull its ads or cancel Terra's contracts to supply boots to the Canadian military. The ads, one depicted above with a scantily clad woman frolicking with her boots and blowtorch, has to be removed from over 600 poster sites across Canada. They've already removed the campaign from the Terra website. "Hell hath no fury like a woman enraged by sexist advertising," said Shari Graydon, past president of MediaWatch, a Canadian media watchdog that looks to eliminate sexism in advertising.
Mark Krausewitz, marketing manager for Terra, said to Canoe news that the reaction was unexpected. Really? "Essentially there was a large group of people who did not see the humour in our spots," he said from his Toronto office yesterday. Humour? The line (and variations) reads: "You probably can't keep your eyes off the bootlaces". very funny, haha. It's just a cheap "creative" crapshot. Very shortsighted considering Terra has a popular womens line of workboots. Marketing may not have many rules, but not offending the target market is one of them. Hat tip to caffeinegoddes for finding these boots. More news at CBC
