PA Liquor Control Board Pulls Ad Blaming Women For Being Sexually Assaulted
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board recently pulled a controversial advertisement that warned of the dangers of drinking—but some said it crossed a line by threatening women with being sexually assaulted if they drank.
The ad was part of a $600,000 campaign aimed at curbing excessive drinking and features a woman’s bare legs splayed on what appears to be a bathroom floor, her underwear pulled down around her ankles and bold text: “She didn’t want to, but she couldn’t say no.”
After backlash, the liquor board offered the following reason for pulling the ad campaign:
We feel very strong, and still do, that when we entered the initial discussion about doing a campaign like this it was important to bring the most difficult conversations about over-consumption of alcohol to the forefront and all of the dangers associated with it—date rape being one of these things. That being said, due to the number of concerns that we heard about that specific ad, and the victims especially that we heard from talking about how the image … made them feel victimized all over again, we felt it was prudent to pull it.
Liquor board spokeswoman Stacey Witalec said the organization is not surprised “at all” by the backlash and that, in spite of the protest, the campaign garnered significant attention about the dangers of drinking.
