I am appalled, ashamed and shocked that you'd say that about this ad. Victoria is a sex worker? What? Where do you get that? This is a cute campaign that's been running in the Seattle area for a while now. If you've turned it into something nasty, then you have problems my friend.

Also, I noticed that you cut off the rest of the billboard so that viewers can't see the rest of the copy and see it in it's context. That's an obvious way to try and push your own issues. Exactly what kind of extremist is running this site? Why did you cut off the rest of the billboard? Because then it wouldn't fit the agenda you're trying to push, that's why.

Alright, I'm going to admit that my associate who just commented told me of this article. This is a blatant mis-use of the media by cutting off part of the ad so that it fits your personal agenda. Shameful. And who is this "Mary S." I have some news for her. If you were really in the Ad World like I've been for 22 years, you'd know that they're called "copywriters" not "writers for advertising". In England this kind of talk would be so much rubbish. It's only in America that people twist things in such a sick way to try and fit their own use. I don't care what you think of the campaign. This website should be discredited after altering the billboard like that.

...the rest of the add does not change the meaning.

In your previous post on this topic, I was quite willing to believe that the advertiser (and their focus groups and the like) just entirely missed the fact that some might interpret their ad as a joking reference to sex workers.

Here though, it seems pretty clearly deliberate.

Also, the company running the ad, Clipper Vacations, appears (to me) to be an American company... so an American company is using this advertising strategy to promote a Canadian city.

Full disclosure: I live in Victoria. I doubt the ad would be well received here...

This type of advertising reminds me of the way people refer to boats and cars and such as female as well. Does anyone know where that came from?

Umm... by the way... where is this "copywriter" vs. "writers of advertising" thing coming from? I don't see ANY mention of either term... well, until Magdelina seemingly invented this misuse of a term.

I don't know where that came from, but it's something I've noticed.
I was teaching my composition students about needing to use inclusive pronouns, because we can no longer use "he" or "him" as default/genderless. One student piped up and said, "Well, we use female pronouns for genderless things, like ships, and countries, and cars..."
Those are all things we OWN (or conquer), I pointed out. Seems like a pretty obvious implication.

If the trade-off for being cherished and defended to the death is being owned, um, no thank you.

I took it to mean Victoria is a cheap date, not a prostitute.

"THIS CITY IS A WHORE; YOU GOTTA COME"

What a subject line :|

It's clearly sexualizing Victoria and projecting that it is a female prostitute and not a cheap date.

I live in Victoria (and am writing this from my desk where I work at a sexual assault centre). And I can GUARANTEEEEEE you I do NOT appreciate this advertisement. I don't care if it's signifying the town Victoria as a cheap date or sex worker; the language in the advertisement was specifically chosen to evoke the image of having to only spend a little bit of money in order to procure sex. Disgusting.

Lisa, if you're reading this (and I doubt you are) consider maybe thinking before you post, and stop cherry picking examples that reinforce your own worldview. You've lost major respect points for censoring and putting forward a half truth as evidence. Try scrutinizing your own beliefs; try being a scientist. Your posts severely lack the quality and thoughtfulness of Gwen's. Why is that? She has data, graphs, and (most of the time) points within a greater context. You however, look at childrens' toys, water bottles, vintage haircuts, and ads like these. It's kind of pathetic.

The stupid talk about people.
The average talk about events.
The intelligent talk about ideas.

I'm not from Seattle, I don't know anything about advertising but I am a victim of sexual abuse and someone who counsels other victims. I don't know if I would have made the sex industry connection or not but certainly putting the word "whore" above the ad changes the context.

I'm sure this Clipper Vacations company is not promoting prostitution and has nothing to do with that industry.

The real problems is well-meaning people who raise a fuss over billboards which takes away from the real problem of sexual abuse and only further damages the victims. It really trivializes our pain and suffering when you make a big deal over something like this ad. It is offensive to me and it pains me that this was even brought up as something that matters.

It pains me to think that anyone could connect this billboard or an ad or whatever to the real problems facing women today. You are missing the problem entirely by focusing on this and by putting the word "whore" in front of it which and by saying this billboard is an issue belittles us and the real issues we face. If you really want to make a difference, donate, helps sponsor support programs and get educated.

I have a nice crisp $20 bill that says that all those posters who are "shocked" and "appalled" that you cut off part of the ad work for the company in question.

Wow, this is the oddest bunch of commenters I've seen in Soc Images.

Victoria is just a floozy! Not a prostitute! Therefore your whole point is invalidated! Also I love my car like a woman! How is this a bad thing??

The only way I can see that the full ad adds anything to the issue is that it shows that the problematic wording is accurate advertisement with low pricing for a presumably entertaining vacation. That, and that Victoria refers to a city and not just a ship. But no one here has claimed that the prostitution/"cheap date" reference sits on its own with nothing to do with the product, so I can't see how chopping off the prices negates anything.

As for gendering objects, I was under the impression that it comes from a pre-English language with gendered nouns such as in modern Spanish. I think that the poetic-style comparison of objects to genders has the potential to be problematic and has been used in expressions of misogyny, but the practice isn't problematic in and of itself.

I see the same thing in this ad that I see in every offensive, sexist, etc. ad that comes up on this site. OBVIOUSLY the intended message is purely innocent; Victoria doesn't like to spend a lot of money; however, this won't prevent her from showing you a good time. It's a clever little way of saying that this trip to Victoria won't cost a lot, but it will still be fun. Obviously, amirite?

But! There's an equally obvious competing interpretation: Victoria is cheap. Cheap as in garish, slutty, trashy, sleazy.

If the creators of the ad didn't welcome this ambiguity, it could have read, "Victoria is a cheap date," or "Victoria is thrifty, but she'll show you a good time." They want to be "edgy," but they want a "safe" interpretation to fall back on, ironic distance.

What I don't understand is why people come on here, no matter what is posted, and vigorously defend the ad or what have you against any criticism as if we weren't aware that it could be read like that, that we are, indeed, invited to read it that way, you know?

I am from Seattle. I've been on a Victoria Clipper ferry before (on a day's vacation to Victoria, BC) and I see ads for the Clipper's services all the time. Let me say that in my personal experiences with advertisements for this beautiful city, Victoria has almost ALWAYS been portrayed as a women. Why? Victoria is generally a female's name, women are used to sell things. We all know this.

My interpretation:
This advertisement is going off of the stereotype that you can only have a "good time" or enjoyable vacation if you pay top dollar for one. It's meant to reverse the idea.

[the] VICTORIA [clipper] IS CHEAP = inexpensive, because no one wants to go on a premium-priced hour or so trip. Also, transportation around WA is getting ridiculously expensive (example: $120+ roundtrip to go from Seattle, WA to Spokane, WA by plane.) Remember, this advertisement is for TRANSPORTATION.

BUT SHE'LL SHOW YOU A GOOD TIME= You'll have fun in the City of Victoria, even though your fare was inexpensive and all you had to do was go down to the pier and get on a boat.

So, while I understand how this ad can be taken offensively, I'm not particularly offended by it.

Also, "Staycations" are becoming popular in Seattle. I'm seeing more and more billboards advertising Washington state parks and such. People aren't traveling great distances across the world because of the expense.

The discussion is interesting. I was just reading about the naming of the continents. All of the continent names are feminine gender: Europa, Asia, Africa and America. (I suppose Antarctica and Australia, fit in too.) Is that a good thing? Perhaps we should find gender neutral words for the continents. We could at the very least drop the feminized Latin forms. Then no one can come to America to have a good time! It could be like Europa=Europe. We could live in Americe. Just joking. But some of the comments so far do seem a bit extreme. By the way, check out my book review of a book on Political Correctness in the latest PsychCritques. Hans Bakker

I showed the ad to a guy friend (without showing the post title) and he literally thought it was for an escort agency. :/

That ad is hilarious! You need a new cause to focus on. I am much more likely to go to Victoria now that I know that people who are promoting the city have a sense of humour. And I am a woman. (I'm also a cheap drunk and all you go out with me have a good time.) ;)

I think the main point is: we can do better in advertising than writing at a level that would appeal to a sixth grader.