Firm installs sign of topless man after having to remove ad with woman in bikini
A company selling artificial grass that was forced to take down an "inappropriate" billboard by the advertising watchdog following complaints has reposted its billboard with a new image - replacing a woman in a bikini with a topless man.
Great Grass MCR Ltd in Oldham was made to take down its original billboard in November last year after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled against it, arguing that it "objectified and stereotyped women as sexual objects".
The poster, situated on a busy junction where Oldham Road meets the M60 motorway, featured a headline stating the company were "Artificial Grarse Experts", alongside an image of a woman in a bikini and further text which read: "Perfect 365 days a year...Get laid by the best."
The original advert showed a woman in a bikini (ASA / SWNS)After taking their first advert down, Great Grass MCR Ltd replaced the billboard with another one that "apologised" to those who found their previous message offensive.
They sarcastically wrote: "You found it offensive, we all found it funny," the poster adds. The billboard then features an angry face emoji followed by the number four alongside a laughing face emoji next to 40,000,000.
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"Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right," the ad continued. The advertisement ended with a promotional offer for people to quote 'not offended' to receive 10% off their next order.
And now, the company is back once again with another new advert - this time replacing the picture with a topless man.
The new billboard now comes with text that reads: "Great abs, great grass", and the company also stuck with the boast that their artificial grass is "perfect 365 days a year".
They also shared one advert in which they 'apologised' for their first billboard (Oldham Times / SWNS)Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, a spokesperson for Great Grass MCR Ltd said: "The original one had a woman on it in a bikini. We got four complaints about it. One complaint is enough to take it down. They said it was objectifying women.
"We had to take it down. We had 900 comments, 895 of which were positive. Then I put the next one up, just saying sorry if we've offended anyone but 'four million people' found it funny."
The spokesperson insisted the advert was just a "bit of fun", and said they'll be replacing the billboard again soon.
They added: "It's just tongue in cheek and a bit of fun. People were coming into the shop and saying it was funny. An elderly woman came in and said it made her day.
"We've had a billboard there for five years, we got more business off that three months ago than over the past five years. It obviously works, but that wasn't the purpose. It was just for a bit of fun.
"[The new billboard] had nothing to do with grass, it was just poking fun at them. It's a bit of fun. We've got another one coming soon."
In the ASA's official ruling, the watchdog found the poster of the woman in a bikini to be "irresponsible and likely to cause serious offence" after people complained.
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At the time, the local company said in response that the advertisement was a "bit of light-hearted fun and not intended to offend anyone".
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