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COMMENT: Carry On-type advert out of date

7:10am Tuesday 16th March 2010 in


THE row over advertisements for a hospital bus service may seem like a classic case of political correctness gone mad.

But your view of the pictures adorning some Red Diamond buses will be coloured by which side of the fence you sit.

The bus company thinks the adverts, which feature a sexy-looking nurse and use the Carry On-style catchphrase ‘Ooh matron’, are nothing more than a bit of fun.

Nurses and hospital bosses, meanwhile, view the ads as sexist and demeaning.

We suspect the truth lies somewhere between the two viewpoints.

We doubt Red Diamond has set out to offend nurses. Its aim, as with all advertising, is to use attention-grabbing techniques to promote a product or service.

To that end it has probably succeeded.

But its choice of image and phrasing is not particularly clever, probably a little crass and belongs to a different century.

• BALLOT: What do you think? Is this advert demeaning? Should it be removed?

Is it just a bit of a laugh, provoking an unjustified reaction?

Please vote in our poll and tell us your thoughts in the comment box, below.

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Comments(8)

Tulstar says...
8:37am Tue 16 Mar 10

Slow news day again....

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Sarah Cronk says...
9:58am Tue 16 Mar 10

Sorry guys, going to have to disagree with you on this one.

I think it's a bit of fun and as you pointed out, an effective advertisement. Yes it may not be clever, but it's not trying to be - it's an advertisement at the end of the day. Just that – nothing else. And by talking about it, you are only adding to the effect it has had on you.

I don't think it has done anybody any form of harm – it hasn’t trodden on any form of unacceptable decency in my eyes as there is far worse out there - and on this occasion I do think the WN may be playing the political correctness card here.

Lighten up a little guys!! :)

I do wonder if the same fuss would have been made if the company was a big advertiser in the WN in the first instance.

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SkyCaptain79 says...
10:18am Tue 16 Mar 10

It's all just a bit of fun at the end of the day and I'm just wondering if such a fuss would have been made if it had been a man (not in a nurses uniform obv, that would just be freaky..)...

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lowlybarnacle says...
5:19pm Tue 16 Mar 10

You'd think hospital bosses would be concerning themselves with NHS matters...

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Piccolo says...
5:28pm Tue 16 Mar 10

Perhaps you could take that view of 'the bosses' - although it's more than reasonable for them to be supportive of their employees. But the views of 'rank-and-file' nursing professionals are worthy of consideration, aren't they?

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cheersforthat says...
6:23pm Tue 16 Mar 10

Why is the WN so bothered, they've advertised sex shops in their paper before

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val worcestershire says...
10:26pm Tue 16 Mar 10

I agree with luckymummy, this is just a bit of fun whereas the late night campus bus ad is very offensive. How many people took the carry-on films seriously? They were just a bit of harmless fun and no-one thought them offensive. You see more scantilly clad women in ads on tv and in magazines. If it was a naked body on this ad I could understand the attitude and I would agree with it. This kind of picture does not cause teenage pregnancy. Maybe I had the wrong sex education! I know things have changed since I was a teenager but surely not that much?

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Biggles says...
11:41pm Tue 16 Mar 10

No its not out of date.

Yes its amusing.

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