Lynx now include women in their range of products at the “Lynx Lodge.”
We already know that Lynx produces some of the most sexist and degrading advertising you can find (or rather – finds you). So I’m not sure why I was surprised to hear that Lynx is opening a resort called “The Lynx Lodge.”
As reported in the Courier Mail:
The Lynx Lodge, set to open later this year in Lake Macquarie, NSW, has been billed as the “ultimate man-cation destination”.
A team of models will make up the “friendly and flexible” lodging staff and will offer on-the-spot back rubs, breakfast in bed and “sexy wake-up calls”.
“From grabbing your wood on the golf course through to getting filthy on a dirt bike, every day at the Lynx Lodge will leave you utterly shagged,” the website states.
Evening entertainment will include mud wrestling and games of Twister.
Lynx is holding a competition to mark the launch of the resort, where the winner will get to stay at the resort with seven friends.
If you’re still using Lynx deodorants or buying them for the men or boys in your family, the time to boycott Lynx is now.
You might also like to let Lynx know what you think, which you can do through Unilever’s website.
Tell Lynx:
- You’ve had enough of their sexist and degrading advertising.
- The Lynx Lodge is degrading to women.
- Most importantly – you won’t purchase Lynx anymore and where possible, will avoid other Unilever brands too.*
*Unilever is the parent company for Lynx as well as a number of other brands. If you choose to boycott Unilever brands, look for this Unilever logo on the label.
You can also view a list of Unilever’s brands at their website. (Yes, this is the brand which own’s Dove which produces the ‘campaign for real beauty.’ Perhaps they should rename it ‘campaign for real profits!’)
UPDATE!
Melinda Tankard Reist has written about the Lynx promotion for the Lynx Lodge – ‘pop up spas’ in Sydney’s Martin Place and Woolworths promotion of the Lynx Lodge.
Why would Woolworths associate itself with the objectification of women?
It’s not news that Lynx’s revels in degrading representations of women to promote its body spray.
I’ve talked about their ‘Spray More Get More’ campaign which features women transforming into out-of-control-sex-maniacs the second they smell Lynx on a man.
Collective Shout has also exposed the sexism and misogyny of the Lynx brand in a recent post about the ‘Lynx Lodge’.
But what is new is the discovery that Lynx has the support of one of the world’s biggest supermarket chains – Woolworths. Is Woolies to be known as the women-as-fresh-meat people? Read more here.
Take Action Today!
Write to Unilever
Contact Unilever here. You might wish to make the following points in your letter to Unilever about Lynx and the Lynx Lodge:
- Tell them you will never buy Lynx. For advanced boycotters, tell them you will avoid purchasing anything with the Unilever logo. (Find the list of Unilever brands here or look for the “U” on the back of the label when you are shopping)
- Unilever has often claimed that Lynx is offering a fantasy. The Lynx Lodge is offering a reality that is usually found only in the sex industry.
- The Lynx brand is targeted to teenage boys and men in their early twenties. Lynx is normalising pornography use and prostitution in this age group, which has a detrimental impact on girls and women and on relationships.
- Girls and women deserve better than to have their equality undermined by irresponsible brands such as Unilever.
- They can’t continue telling girls to love their bodies as they are through Dove, while consistently undermining that message through Lynx. We won’t be fooled.
Write to Woolworths about their promotion of the Lynx Lodge
Michael Luscombe is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Woolworths.
Contact Woolworths management, using the telephone, email or postal contacts here.
You might choose to make the following points in your letter to Woolworths:
- Acknowledge their committment to the community as outlined in their own policy - ‘As a member of those communities we understand that we have a duty to be more than just a retail outlet, but to also make a positive impact on the societies that we serve’ (this statement found here)
- By continuing to sell Lynx, they are selling a brand that objectifies women in all of the marketing and advertising they do.
- The Lynx Lodge borders on prostitution, they are promoting a venue which carries all the hallmarks of the sex industry.
Write to these contacts about the Lynx ‘pop up spa.’
Time Out (Where details of the event were advertised)
letters@timeoutsydney.com.au
City of Sydney
http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/
Lord Mayor of Sydney
Clover Moore MP,
cmoore@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
You might choose to make the following points in your letter about the ‘pop up spa’:
- It promotes the idea that women’s bodies are their to pleasure men
- It arouses men before they go to work, increasing the possibility of sexual harassment in the workplace
- For young boys who see this, it normalises the idea that women provide services with their bodies
- The pop up spa, promoting the Lynx Lodge is really a promotion of the sex industry
- It is unfair for people as they pass through the city, to be confronted with an event that would normally be found in an adults only venue such as a strip club.
Contact these members of the Lake Macquarie Council and voice your objection to the Lynx Lodge
Mayor of Lake Macquarie
Mr Greg Piper, MP
92 Victory Parade
TORONTO NSW 2283
Phone (02) 4959 3200
Fax (02) 4950 4076
Email: lakemacquarie@parliament.nsw.gov.au
Website www.gregpiper1.com
Councillor Jodie Harrison (ALP)
Address: c/- Lake Macquarie City Council
Box 1906 Hunter Region Mail Centre 2310
Mobile: 0428 141 029
Email: jharrison@lakemac.nsw.gov.au
Councillor Paul Scarfe (IND)
Address: c/- Lake Macquarie City Council
Box 1906 Hunter Region Mail Centre 2310
Phone: 02 4956 5356
Mobile: 0412 452 928
Fax: 02 4954 7888
Email: pscarfe@lakemac.nsw.gov.au
Councillor Anthony Birt (LIB)
Address: c/- Lake Macquarie City Council
Box 1906 Hunter Region Mail Centre 2310
Mobile: 0428 910 290
Email: abirt@lakemac.nsw.gov.au
Councillor Garry Edwards (LIB)
Address: PO Box 18, Belmont, NSW 2280
Mobile: 0428 310 290
Email: gedwards@lakemac.nsw.gov.au
As always, please post any complaints you send, or responses you receive in the comments section below.
58 Comments
Can you provide the link for the competition?
I want them to know how outraged I am by entering.
Hey, CS. This is the message I just sent to Unilever via their website. Thanks for keeping us informed.
Unilever, you’ve finally blown it with your Lynx ad campaigns and your apparent plans for the ‘Lynx Lodge’. I have to say that the concept sounds like something out of a B-grade sitcom, but whether it actually eventuates or not is not even the point.
Your Lynx advertising has been consistently offensive and degrading to 50% of the population for too long. The damage that constant exposure to these kinds of depictions of women does to the self-worth of young girls is immeasurable and is something you obviously refuse to contemplate. I will cease buying all Unilever products immediately and encourage like-minded friends and family to do the same.
It’s time for you to grow up and take some responsibility for the influence your advertising has on the minds of young Australians.
Thanks Gen! That is a great letter, really appreciate your writing it and posting here, hopefully many others will to.
J.Collins, I think you’ll find what you need here.
My message.
I was disgusted to discover the promotion of the new Lynx Lodge planned to be opened in australia. Lynx is supposed to be a brand of deoderising, personal hygiene products not of a brothel disquised as a holiday park for men. All of the advertising I have seen from lynx lately is degrading to both men and women and suggests that men exist to have sex and women exist to be the ‘conquered’ partners of it. Its time you changed the direction of your advertising before the damage continues to the esteem of both men and women of society. I will cease to purchase both Lynx and Unilever products and will encourage everyone I know to do likewise.
This is beyond a joke – this is disgusting! It barely falls short of advertising a brothel.
I’m letting as many people as possible know about this (including unilever& lynx)!
Have sent off a complaint today.
I am so disgusted with this “resort” – although Lynx insists the girls will not be required to do anything they don’t want to, it’s hard to imagine they are really in a safe environment when Lynx actively promotes it as one that enables sex to occur
““From grabbing your wood on the golf course through to getting filthy on a dirt bike, every day at the Lynx Lodge will leave you utterly shagged,”
It *is* like a new type of brothel – cloaked in a camp-style setting usually associated with families and children… very disturbing….
Do they really expect guys to not touch the girls? Will it be like a strip club look but don’t touch? oh wait the girls are already having to give the guys massages… the lines seem awfully blurred and leaves the girls vulnerable to sexual harrassment/assault
this sends a message that women are just there to service men’s sexual needs, nothing more
providing him with massage, fetching him breakfast in bed, mud wrestling for his entertainment… what are these women? sex slaves?
The website is truly horrible & devalues women. This raunch culture is ruining our children & destroying marriages. You don’t have to look far to hear of people, families & relationships being broken by porn addiction. It starts with this sort of trash. If we accept this, it gives permission for our daughters to be devalued & our sons to be destroyed.
One very sad fact is that you can enter the competition to “stay” there if you are 16 or over. 16 is what… grade 10? 11? I am clearing my house of ALL Unilever products & encourage you to do the same.
Here are some brands to start binning now.
FOOD – Bertolli, Bushels, Choysa, Continental, Flora, Lanchoo, Lipton, Raguletto, Streets Icecreams,
PERSONAL – Dove, Impulse, Lifebuoy, Lux, Lynx (stinks), Pears, Rexona, Sunsilk, Vaseline
HOME – Domestos. Drive, Jif, Omo, Persil, Surf
Also – Write to Mr Sebastian Lazell – He is a father of 4 teenagers and the Chairman of Unilever Australia, 20 Cambridge Street. Epping, NSW 2121.
Look at their website http://www.unilever.com.au Get info about what is apparently important to them as a company
Here is their Vision
The four pillars of our vision set out the long term direction for the company – where we want to go and how we are going to get there:
We work to create a better future every day
We help people feel good, look good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for others.
We will inspire people to take small everyday actions that can add up to a big difference for the world.
We will develop new ways of doing business with the aim of doubling the size of our company while reducing our environmental impact.
We’ve always believed in the power of our brands to improve the quality of people’s lives and in doing the right thing. As our business grows, so do our responsibilities. We recognise that global challenges such as climate change concern us all. Considering the wider impact of our actions is embedded in our values and is a fundamental part of who we are.
Dear Unilever,
The new Lynx lodge is a despicable new promotion for the brand which already has a stellar track record for demeaning women in every advertisement on print, television, or online.
I find it abhorrent that the Lynx Lodge is designed so that men are served in every way by “models” who fit raunch culture’s narrow definition of beauty.
I believe that the role of women in this lodge perpetuates the idea that women are merely for the service of men: to look at and to use for their own pleasure. This role exhibits great inequality, and also impacts negatively on our society, telling girls and young women that we are created solely for the use of and enjoyment by men.
The reputation of the Lynx Lodge is similar to that of a massage parlour; the sexually suggestive phrases like “…grabbing your wood on the golf course…” and “every day at the Lynx Lodge will leave you utterly shagged,” allude to sexual services. As brothels are still illegal in SA, this competition treads a thin line of legitimacy!
Because of the extent of the degradation of women that is shown in Lynx ads, and due to the absolute hypocrisy when coupled with the Dove advertising campaign (Real Beauty), be assured that I will NOT be buying Unilever products anymore.
As a consumer I have buying power and do not want to give money to a corporation that makes so much profit out of the extreme objectification of women.
Look at your ad campaign.
Now look at mine.
Yours again.
Now back to mine.
Sadly, your advertising campaign isn’t like mine but if you stopped portraying women as sex objects, offending most women and turning away men who respect ladies, and instead used humour as a universal way to reach all the body-spray-buying public, it could be like mine.
I’m on a horse.
This is the reply I got from Unilever… they seem to believe that their disgusting ads are ‘amusing’ and both men AND women will think so too!!
Dear Ms Venz
Thank you for contacting Lynx.
Thank you for your feedback and the opportunity to address your concerns regarding our marketing activations.
While acknowledging the raised points I would like to take the opportunity to outline Unilever¿s practice standards regarding the marketing activities involving our products:
¿We take marketing responsibilities very seriously and are committed to responsible marketing
¿In all cases we follow the regulatory guidelines, while being respectful of differing views, and taking care not to offend.
¿Unilever adopted a global guideline to prevent the use of ‘size zero’ models or actors in its advertising to ensure that our advertising does not promote ‘unhealthy’ slimness.
¿We follow explicit guidelines about direct advertising to young children.
Unilever has a wide portfolio of everyday consumer brands, offering products to consumers that address different needs. Each of our brands talks to its target consumers in a way that is relevant and that communicates the brand¿s own unique proposition. Sometimes that proposition is serious and informative; at other times it is light-hearted and amusing.
Dove is a proud member of the beauty industry. Dove¿s Campaign for Real Beauty, which promotes the idea that beauty comes in all shapes, sizes and ages, is a good example of aligning the values of the brand with what¿s important for its target audience. The Dove Self-Esteem Fund encourages parents and mentors to talk to their daughters and young women about all the images they see, to help them put beauty into perspective and to build their confidence and self esteem.
Lynx communicates to its consumers through a series of light-hearted and tongue-in-check advertisements that feature fantasy situations that rarely happen for guys in the real world. Lynx strives to create ads that make women laugh as much as men, and the women featured in our advertising are always in on the joke.
The campaigns for Dove and Lynx both resist telling people how they should look and both aim to build people¿s confidence. For Dove, this is about embracing far-ranging ideals of beauty. For Lynx, it is about the ¿Lynx effect¿ ¿ the boost that using Lynx can give to the confidence of young men that often find themselves daunted by the dating game.
We do take the concerns of consumers very seriously and thank you for your feedback.
Again, we apologise for any offence caused and thank you for taking the time to contact us.
Yours sincerely
Becky Wood
Consumer Relations Consultant.
http://www.unilever.com.au
Hey guys, completely agree with your stance and stand on these important issues. However, as a man who, like most men, struggles with succumbing to visual temptation, it doesn’t help your case to repost these provocative images. At the very least, you should blur out the inappropriate parts. Ideally, you wouldn’t have to post the images at all, but I understand you are trying to promote awareness.
From a man’s point of view, you are only tempting men to succumb to these ads by reposting images from companies portraying women in this negative way.
Keep up the good work,
Phil
I got the exact same response as Bethany to my complaint. How does this advertising give guys confidence to date? I would think it would send the message that you have to pay for a girl to be interested in them.
Agree with Phil maybe would b good to blur some of the images.
Hi Phil,
Thanks for your feedback.
I think that what you’re saying highlights how difficult it is for men who want nothing to do with pornography or porn inspired images. They wallpaper our society and are virtually unavoidable. Images just like this one are in our service stations, in our convenience stores, on billboards, on Saturday morning television.
Collective Shout exists to challenge the proliferation of sexist attitudes and images in the broader culture, however as you say, to create awareness of the issues it is necessary to post some examples.
With this post in particular, this image was the one used in the courier mail article and it is tame compared to the other images (and ‘banned’ promotional video) found at the Lynx Lodge website.
If we didn’t post an example at all, people wouldn’t know what we were talking about, or would not understand the gravity of the issue. We can’t expect people to take action if they don’t know what they are making a complaint about.
Without an illustration, there is also a risk that people would google Lynx or the Lynx Lodge to find out what the big deal is. You’ll notice we didn’t post a link to the Lynx Lodge, where this image originates as we do not want to generate any traffic for them, nor lead our members into the other garbage they have there.
With regards to blurring of images – if an image we need to use (say, for a campaign challenging category 1 pornography in service stations for example) is overtly pornographic of course we would blur it or cover it.
However in the case of this image, we are not sure what we would be blurring. If it was the woman’s bottom, we would be giving the impression that she was naked from the waist down, which is misleading. (and perhaps leading to google searches to check out the image of the ‘naked’ Lynx woman, taking them straight to the Lynx site)
In addition, I feel we would be giving the impression that it is the woman’s bottom and legs which are offensive and blurring makes the image acceptable. However we want to make clear, it is the entire concept that is offensive – Lynx, marketing their products to young men and teenage boys through sexist advertising, now offering real life women to service their sexual fantasies. This is aptly illustrated by the text in the image ‘grab your wood.’ If I was to blur anything, it would be that.
We appreciate your concerns Phil and we hope you understand the reason we post images. We also hope that your concerns will prompt you to write to Unilever as others have done and to boycott their products. It is the only way things are going to change.
Kind regards,
The Collective Shout Team
Reply from Unilever to my complaint
Dear Mr Mina
Thank you for your feedback and the opportunity to address your concerns regarding our marketing activations.
While acknowledging the raised points I would like to take the opportunity to outline Unilever¿s practice standards regarding the marketing activities involving our products:
¿We take marketing responsibilities very seriously and are committed to responsible marketing
¿In all cases we follow the regulatory guidelines, while being respectful of differing views, and taking care not to offend.
¿Unilever adopted a global guideline to prevent the use of ‘size zero’ models or actors in its advertising to ensure that our advertising does not promote ‘unhealthy’ slimness.
¿We follow explicit guidelines about direct advertising to young children.
Unilever has a wide portfolio of everyday consumer brands, offering products to consumers that address different needs. Each of our brands talks to its target consumers in a way that is relevant and that communicates the brand
¿s own unique proposition. Sometimes that proposition is serious and informative; at other times it is light-hearted and amusing.
Lynx communicates to its consumers through a series of light-hearted and tongue-in-check advertisements that feature fantasy situations that rarely happen for guys in the real world. Lynx strives to create marketing campaigns and promotions that make women laugh as much as men, and the women featured in our advertising are always in on the joke.
The campaign for Lynx aims to build the confidence of young men. For Lynx, it is about the ¿Lynx effect¿ ¿ the boost that using Lynx can give to the confidence of young men that often find themselves daunted by the dating game.
We do take the concerns of consumers very seriously and thank you for your feedback.
Again, we apologise for any offence caused and thank you for taking the time to contact us.
Yours sincerely
Becky Wood
Consumer Relations Consultant.
http://www.unilever.com.au
My Message to Unilever:
Hi there,
I’m writing to express my deep concern over your latest Lynx advertising gambit: the Lynx Lodge.
This promotion is in direct opposition with the cause of Dove’s ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’, and completely undermines this cause. The advertising for the Lynx Lodge treats women as ‘features’ of a resort, and sends a very damaging message to the women of our society that women must give themselves as sex-objects to men. The Lynx Lodge website contains pages on the virtual tour where a man can:
- Look down a woman’s shirt while she takes a shot in pool
- Look at a woman’s bikini-clad backside without her knowledge, and without seeing her face (volleyball)
- Peek through a keyhole and watch a woman having a bath
And along with all of this, the women ‘working’ at this lodge are portrayed as enjoying this objectifying treatment. As if! This promotion suggests that it is appropriate to think of women as simply there for men’s sexual gratification. This suggestion is made more explicit by the fact that Lynx is running a competition in which the prize is a trip to the Lynx Lodge. The women, who are clearly the main feature of the Lodge, are thereby being presented as prizes to be won. And yet this is a product marketed in public to people of all ages. This promotion sounds like it would be more at home in an Adult Bookstore, or being owned by an international people-trafficking ring!
I would expect that a large company like yours would be more discerning in what it puts its name on. Please reconsider this campaign. I won’t be purchasing any Lynx or unilever products until this campaign is shut down. I would like you to reply to my concerns, but please do not write back to tell me that your sorry for offending me, but that you try to cater for a broad range of customer preferences. Treating women as sex-objects is not a preference that should be tolerated, let alone catered-for, in our society.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
Regards,
Thomas McConaghey
I received the standard reply to my email (see above where others have posted it). I will be writing back soon asking for a more considered response.
My complaint, however poorly written:
I have had enough with Lynx’s sexist, degrading advertising. At university a few days ago, I was approached by two promotional models for the Lynx Lodge, who sprayed deodorant in my face and handed me a flyer. I was absolutely disgusted that two young models would be used to advertise to university students, who once upon a time could not be women at all, only prostitutes and housewives – and your advertising reinforces this objectifying, dehumanising stance.
I have boycotted Unilever’s entire range as much as I can for over two years now since I became aware of Lynx’s marketing, and I have to say that I am deeply appalled that such hypocrisy (taking into account ownership of Dove, which I also refuse to purchase) is in place in your company. I cannot comprehend how a massively successful company can live with offending approximately 50% of the population every day. Obviously it is too easy, but the Lynx Lounge is going much too far.
I also wrote to unilever. What makes me so angry about their response is that apparently they are doing it to help young men with their confidence. In fact what they are doing is reinforcing the pornographic ‘ideal’. Which reinforces the idea that women are there only for men’s pleasure and do not have needs of their own. How does that help them build a successful relationship or even get a date in the first place? If they want to help young men with their confidence in the dating game they need to be representing real women and things that real women want from a man like conversation, affection, time not to mention gifts (which advertisers love to exploit but at least it is something women like).
Another thing they mentioned was that the women involved are ‘in on the joke’. The fact that they are in on the joke does not mean that they are not being exploited. Or that it doesn’t have an impact on the wider community.
I dislike sexualised advertising in any shape manner or form and I love the articles and awareness Collective Shout bring to us around these issues.
After reading this I had some thoughts, this article is focusing on the supplier, rather than the the consumer. If there were no consumers buying their message or willing people to allow themselves to be degraded in this manner, then this kind of marketing would not exist.
However, I am not naive to think the solution is that simple. The more these ads are available the more normal it appears, so yes we definately need to voice our concerns and seek their removal. I am concerned about the moral decline and no limits approach to marketing and wish to see healthier role modelling. So, how do we also reach the consumers so they begin to reject these messages? How do we provide healthy role models in the media, advertising and music industries and have them as attractive as the current selections, as well as examples of healthy behaviours and relationships? How do we remove the crap from mainstream and stop it going underground and becoming worse?
Because just like food diets don’t work through deprivation neither will smut diets work merely through eradication. In any kind of behaviour change it works best by having something to replace the undesirable behaviour with. We need to have the demand for the healthier version be equal if not greater than the smutty stuff.
Would love your thoughts on this…
Hi there Kerry,
Thanks so much for your feedback.
What Collective Shout does is inform consumers about which brands are objectifying women/sexualising children and how they are doing it. In this way, consumers are educated on the issues and know which brands to avoid. In this post we’ve urged people not to buy Lynx and have included some info about Unilever and what to look for if you choose to boycott Unilever entirely. This can be difficult as Unilever covers a wide variety of products. Looking for the ‘U’ symbol is an easy way to identify Unilever.
Our hope is that by creating awareness of the issues, a) people will begin to see why it is important to boycott these brands and make the effort to do so and b) to encourage people to speak directly to these companies by contacting them personally.
We are also seeing more people join up to Collective Shout every day, either through our site http://community.collectiveshout.org or our facebook group http://www.facebook.com/collectiveshout People join up and then share information with their friends.
We recognise that changes will not always happen quickly. We have had some very quick results from some of our campaigns (Best and Less removing ‘tween push up bra’ for little girls within 24 hours) but other issues have taken longer. (Enormous strip club advertisement – it took 5 years before it was taken down by ad standards board after they reviewed the issue) We know that as a movement, we will have to be persistent as we want to see women and girls valued for who they are, not for their bodies. This is worth fighting for.
Regarding what to replace the garbage with, we are always looking for positive examples but have found very little in the way of advertising worth commenting on. More often than not, women are objectified, passive and idle. Also cosmetically enhanced and digitally retouched. They are depicted as decorative objects. When they are depicted as doing something other than posing, they are usually half dressed. (ads for power tools come to mind, yes she’s apparently a carpenter using a drill, however she’s also wearing a bikini under overalls with the straps undone – just an example i remember off the top of my head!)
What we do have in the way of positive action that we can report on is women who are working with young girls to combat some of the negative effects of the ‘toxic’ culture. Recently we wrote about Dannielle Miller’s book, ‘The Butterfly Effect.’ Danni is the CEO of Enlighten Education which runs programs and seminars for girls through schools. Check out previous blog posts and our ‘resources’ section for more on this.
We’ve also highlighted the positive action taken by Ben who spoke up against objectifying t-shirts in target, Beth who took on the issue of pornography in corner stores and appeared on the local news, our Toowoomba group who have delivered posters to City Beach with photographs of 50 young people and a message that they will no longer shop at their stores. When we see something positive, we do try to promote it as much as we can.
I hope that helps to answer your question, am interested in your further comments.
Wrote back to Unilever regarding cookie cutter bland response to my complaint….no reply so far.
Thanks for the reply guys.
I think pointing out how many people are participating and signing up means that awareness and action from us as consumers is increasing. That is the kind of results we all want to see, isn’t it!
So many great advocates like Dannielle Miller who are creating awareness through resources, talks, books etc.
Keep up the great work.
The day I see forums like this one getting equally upset over Old Spice Guy, I’ll take them seriously.
Otherwise it’s just more sexist carry-on, albeit from a reverse position.
I’m on a unicorn.
“Just a Guy” needs to open his eyes and see just how prolific the sexualisation of women is. The fact that he can only name one instance where a man is sexualised is true to this fact. He obviously does not have a girlfriend, wife or daughter to care about. The media is the largest source for destruction of women’s body image and self-esteem!
I have left a complaint with the Advertising Standards Bureau, as the ad does not comply with the AANA advertiser code of ethics (section 2). I think this will have more impact than going to Unilever directly, and I won’t have to waste my time reading a standard response from their consumer relations department. The slogan of the Lynx Lodge “Gel Laid Back” is a very serious infringement of section 2.3 of the code (it has not treated sex and sexuality with sensitivity). The place is portrayed as a glorified brothel.
Please leave your own complaints at…..
http://www.adstandards.com.au/pages/page51.asp
i’m amazed how worked up you all are about this.
are you just complaining about the wording of the ads, or the entire concept of the resort?
so some fellas do a ‘boys’ days trip and sure, this place features some scantily clad ladies- but big deal!
there is nothing wrong with that. yes these ads are fleshy and suggestive but anyone with half a brain can see that is just to generate conjecture ergo interest. the resort itself will be quite tame- do you honestly believe a multi national company would open a brothel??
Hi all,
I wrote a letter to Unilever a while back, and got the standard response. Here is my response to the standard response.
Hi Amy,
thanks for your response. I’ve taken some time to think about what you said. And my response is to say that I think you have either missed or ignored my concerns.
For example, you wrote, ‘Lynx strives to create marketing campaigns and promotions that make women laugh as much as men.’ And I think this is a noble aim, and my comments assumed it, but were really intended to inform you that I think you have failed in this aim. Do you, as a woman, laugh along with your so-called ‘tongue in cheek’ advertising of the Lynx Lodge?
As well as this, I’m seriously concerned about how positive you believe your advertising really is. You wrote, ‘The campaign for Lynx aims to build the confidence of young men.’ What kind of confidence are you trying to build, exactly? Does your company seriously want to facilitate men men growing confident to look down a woman’s shirt while she takes a shot at pool. Is your product really intended to give men the confidence to look through keyholes at women taking baths?
Finally, I’m also concerned at what your company’s apparent view of what normal women look and act like. You wrote, ‘We take marketing responsibilities very seriously and are committed to responsible marketing’ This is a noble aim, and I’m glad Unilever has adopted the guideline you mentioned in your email. However I would reiterate my point that I don’t think your advertising for the Lynx Lodge is at all responsible. I’d like to know what you mean when you say that you are committed to ‘responsible’ advertising, because the point of my email was to argue that the sexualised and objectified use of women in the advertising of Lynx promotes a false and extremely harmful view of women to the men in our society. By promoting Lynx in this way, you are saying to all the men that see your ads that it is appropriate to treat women as sexual objects. So appropriate, in fact, that sexually objectified women are being offered as a prize to a competition! (Lets be honest, even though the Terms and Conditions state that the ‘Lynx Minxes’ will only be present for part of the winners’ time at the Lodge, the advertising really offers the women, rather than the Lodge, as the prize. They’re featured visually, and in the description of every aspect of the Lodge). I assume that you agree that it is inappropriate to treat women as sex-objects. However I would argue that your advertising campaign says loud-and-clear that it COMPLETELY appropriate. And so I believe it is irresponsible.
I think the last email you sent me was a ‘form’ email that you send to all the people who complain to you. Since I’ve taken the time to respond properly to your reply, I hope you will do me the same courtesy. Will you try to argue the case for why this campaign is humorous, positive, and responsible? Or will you outline what you intend to do to correct this mistake by Unilever.
Regards,
Thomas McConaghey
I just got this ‘form’ response to my above letter. It claims that Unilever take comments from the public very seriously. Only time will tell if this is just marketing rhetoric, or if they actually consider what we have been saying to them.
Here is the email I received:
Dear Mr Mcconaghey
Thank you once again for contacting us about our Lynx advertising.
We are always interested to hear from our consumers and welcome your comments.
We have forwarded your comments on and these will be viewed by all relevant departments and will be considered during future development of the Lynx brand.
We often recieve mixed feedback and responses to advertising campaigns however, we do take the concerns of consumers very seriously and thank you for your feedback.
Again, we apologise for any offence caused and thank you for taking the time to contact us.
Yours sincerely
Amy Birrell
Consumer Relations Consultant
http://www.unilever.com.au
Sent the letter below to Unilever. Bet I get the same tired response…. urgh
Dear Unilever,
I am absolutely disgusted by your Lynx Lodge campaign. The imagery and concepts used in the campaign are not only highly objectifying, but are undeniably inspired by and reminiscent of pornography. This is completely unacceptable as a marketing technique. Furthermore, the offer and promise of women and services at the Lynx Lodge are thinly disguised prostitution, with the slogan “Get Laid” – sorry, “Get Laid Back” – driving home the point of what men might expect to enjoy during their stay. What you are offering as fantasy, is in reality found only in the sex industry, and certainly not in a can of deodorant.
Your target market of adolescent and young males is already confused enough about how to be men and treat women, without corporations profiteering from the subjugation of sexuality and the normalisation of pornography use. The women in their lives deserve better too – and don’t think we haven’t noticed your hypocrisy in telling us to love our bodies as we are with Dove in your right hand, while wielding Lynx against us in your left. Please take us all seriously and ditch the Lynx Lodge campaign; and while you’re at it, reconsider the way you promote Lynx altogether.
I, and no member of my family, will ever buy Lynx – and I am advising everyone I know to do the same. Nor will we purchase any Unilever products, as long as your company continues to peddle the degradation of women.
Sincerely
Nicole Jameson
I just finished writing this complaint to Unilever and I thought it was well worth reproducing for you to read since you are supporting their current Lynx Lodge advertising campaign:
“Unilever, I want to say that you have totally ‘blown it’ with your latest degrading Lynx advertising campaign but you would probably just use it as your next slogan. Your Lynx advertising has long been offensive, but this latest campaign to encourage men to apply to win a competition which all but advertises a prostitution-filled getaway to the Lynx lodge has instead encouraged me to apply my criticism to you directly. You consistently depict women in blatantly sexually suggestive poses. You may think you are being clever by using phrases such as “Grab Your Wood” but instead all you are doing is degrading women by implying that their only value lies in their ability to be sexually objectified: to be viewed in a voyeuristic fashion and wanked over. Because let’s face it, women are incapable of engaging in activities such as golf (I am of course referring to your promotional material which depicts a woman on her knees sticking her butt in the air on a golf course) for real, they should only be there to make the experience of grabbing your wood and aiming for the nearest hole more entertaining. Additionally, as a 23 year old woman I feel more personally affected by your irresponsible advertising since it is aimed at young men in my age group and the women you depict in your advertisements are of a similar age. I have already been avoiding Dove for close to a year due to the hypocrisy you have displayed by on the one hand ‘promoting’ real beauty and women’s self esteem and on the other promoting Lynx products which promote beauty as being inherently physical and decorative and eroding women’s self esteem. Above this comment box, you have helpfully provided me with a list of further affiliated brands to boycott. In particular, I currently drink Lipton tea, eat Streets Ice Cream, and use Domestos and Sunsilk Shampoo, but rest assured this will not continue and I will be telling my family and friends to discontinue buying these brands as well. Considering that you make my life and the lives of all women harder, it has been a pleasant surprise to find out that you are making things easier for me in this regard. I look forward to hearing whether you can possibly explain the behaviour of your company, particularly in regards to my criticisms of your Lynx and Dove brands.”
I am including you in this criticism. Lynx objectifies women in EVERY ONE of their advertisements. By supporting them your company is associating itself with a company that encourages men to view women as sex objects. Their Lynx Lodge competition carries all the hallmarks of the sex industry. I consider Woolworths to be just as irresponsible and hypocritical as Unilever, because it states in your own commitment to your customers statement that’ As Australia’s largest food retailer and second largest private employer, Woolworths recognises we have a high level of social responsibility, and we take these responsibilities seriously’ AND ‘As a member of those communities we understand that we have a duty to be more than just a retail outlet, but to also make a positive impact on the societies that we serve’. How is affiliating yourself with company such as Unilever making a positive impact or serving the community? I would strongly argue that you are demonstrating a high level of social irresponsibility. I am sure you would agree that being a customer that shops at Woolworth’s exclusively entails giving a lot of money to your company. I would say that shopping at the local Woolworth’s for food and filling up with petrol once a week equates to about $150, and considering that I am 23 years old with many consumer years ahead of me, that is a lot of money and loyalty that you have lost through your carelessness. As I said in my complaint to Unilever, I will be boycotting your company and informing my friends and family of my decision, and I look forward to hearing whether you can possibly explain the behaviour of your company.
Sincerely,
Naomi Nolet
Forgot to say, I did actually sent off those emails to Unilever and Woolworths, yet to get a reply.
Here’s my letter…
I have just stumbled upon your ‘Lynx Lodge’ website & am shaking with anger & disbelief… this is the most appalling, despicable, offensive advertising/marketing campaign I have ever laid eyes on. It is offensive to both women & men – it degrades women to be mere ‘objects’ of sexual lust & servitude, & obviously gives no credit to men for respecting women or loving them in all their beautiful shapes & sizes (therefore totally contradicting & undermining the positive message of your Dove campaign).
You should be ashamed of yourselves for stooping so low. Are there any women who work for Unilever? How could this have been approved??? If it is supposed to be funny, I think you’ve gone too far. A very small, immature percentage of your target market (single young men) might be the only ones who find it amusing & enticing, but have you thought of the repercussions of this? You are encouraging & condoning an extremely derogatory, sexist view of women amongst impressionable young men, who will carry these attitudes & experiences forward into their lives & into society as a whole. I am a mother of two young girls and I shudder to think that they may come across such men in the future who may think of them or treat them this way, even if it’s in good ‘humour’. And then there’s the idea that tanned, model slim, bikini-clad bodies are ideal or the most attractive, something they might feel pressured to strive for. What is the world coming to??!!
You obviously care more about financial profit than about fostering positive relationships & self-image in your target market. Your Lynx product is now aligning itself with immature young men who have no morals, no respect for women, & no respect for themselves. You would’ve been better to make your money by seeking sponsorship from brothels. That is obviously where your morals lie & a truer reflection of the ethics of your company.
I am not alone in feeling this way. Like many others I am so disgusted that I will now be boycotting Unilever products & encouraging others to do the same.
Shame on you.
I strongly agree that sites such as these are a necessity in protecting the innocence of children e.g getting Bonds to withdraw sizes 6 and 8, and Best and Less the mini push up bra. This is totally disgraceful that products would even pass manufacturing processes in the first place. But it has to be said: as far as objectifying women for advertising pull, women DO actually have a say in all of this. As long as there are women choosing to forge careers on their looks and sex appeal, the market will exist. Sex sells. Men are visual creatures. Just because a man will drool over an image of a sexy woman doesnt mean he is sexist or a pervert. And as long as humans exist, women will be seen as sexual beings,(even if being sexual is one of the MANY wonders of being a woman) because that my friends, goes back to human biology.
Thanks for letting us know about this. I have sent an email off to Unilever today and will never buy another product again. I will be telling all my friends and family to do the same. Thanks again
Hi all,
I sent off emails to all of the people/companies mentioned in the campaign article, and today I received a reply from Paul Scarfe. Hopefully the “Lodge” will never eventuate.
Re: “Lynx Lodge”
Thanks for alerting me regarding your concerns.
I’ve made some enquiries through Council regarding the “Lynx Lodge” promotions that have surfaced recently, and have received the following response from senior management this afternoon:
“Thankyou for your email in relation to the above matter.
I have discussed this with the General Manager. As far as we can ascertain this proposal is a hoax.
To the best of my knowledge there have been no enquiries concerning a development of this nature in Lake Macquarie.
I have alerted the Chief Development Planner and our Development Compliance officer. We are unable to determine locations at this stage, but will undertake further investigations if more information become available”
If you hear anything more definitive, please don’t hesitate to let me know.
I sent an email to Unilever yesterday, I got a response today saying this:
“Thank you for your feedback and the opportunity to address your concerns regarding our marketing activations.
While acknowledging the raised points I would like to take the opportunity to outline Unilever¿s practice standards regarding the marketing activities involving our products:
¿We take marketing responsibilities very seriously and are committed to responsible marketing
¿In all cases we follow the regulatory guidelines, while being respectful of differing views, and taking care not to offend.
¿Unilever adopted a global guideline to prevent the use of ‘size zero’ models or actors in its advertising to ensure that our advertising does not promote ‘unhealthy’ slimness.
¿We follow explicit guidelines about direct advertising to young children.
Unilever has a wide portfolio of everyday consumer brands, offering products to consumers that address different needs. Each of our brands talks to its target consumers in a way that is relevant and that communicates the brand¿s own unique proposition. Sometimes that proposition is serious and informative; at other times it is light-hearted and amusing.
Lynx communicates to its consumers through a series of light-hearted and tongue-in-check advertisements that feature fantasy situations that rarely happen for guys in the real world. Lynx strives to create marketing campaigns and promotions that make women laugh as much as men, and the women featured in our advertising are always in on the joke.
The campaign for Lynx aims to build the confidence of young men. For Lynx, it is about the ¿Lynx effect¿ ¿ the boost that using Lynx can give to the confidence of young men that often find themselves daunted by the dating game.
We do take the concerns of consumers very seriously and thank you for your feedback.
Again, we apologise for any offence caused and thank you for taking the time to contact us.”
I have responded already, I will post again to see what other confusing excuses are on offer if I receive a reply.
I received a reply from Woolworths. This is it:
“Thank you for your email to Woolworths concerning the recent Lynx Lodge
marketing campaign. A number of customers have contacted us and
expressed their concern about Woolworths’ involvement in this promotion
which was primarily focused on an associated competition to win dirt
bikes. We have reviewed this activity and agree that the nature of the
overall Lynx Lodge promotion is not in keeping with Woolworths’ values
as a company. As a result we have spoken to the manufacturer and taken
steps to remove the association between the Woolworths brand and the
Lynx Lodge promotion. We sincerely apologise for any offence caused.
Kind regards,
Woolworths Supermarkets”
Hi Jade,
Wow! That’s fantastic news, thanks for sharing! Will have to tell all our supporters.
This is the first I’ve heard of the Lynx Lodge, I’m glad I investigated because Unilever will now be off my shopping list.
The thing that gets me about these company’s replies is that they seem to think that the writer was “offended”. They miss the point. It’s not about being offended, it’s about the ever growing array and pervasiveness in our culture of the sexualisation and objectification of women and what this means for women and girls in society.
We’ve not allowed images such as the girl on the golfcourse in our workplaces since 1987 so why are they allowed to be manufactured for marketing purposes. (What is she supposed to be doing anyway? Searching for ants? Aeriating the lawn with her heels?) Good grief, will it ever stop?
Good on ya Collective Shout.
I really don’t know what to think when this type of message gets past the censors on telly. Who can look at this ad any say it’s not going to have a negative impact on how women are viewed?
Messages that jump out from this campaign include:
it’s ok to objectify women
Models are the only women allowed on this resort
women are supposed to serve mens’ needs
women rely on men for their enjoyment of life
…and of course the ideal body image running joke
I worry that girls and women will go away from this ad thinking that they have to be like those models – not just how they look, but how they rely on men for entertainment and fulfillment. Or how they play to the camera, using sex to give themselves value to the audience.
It hadn’t occurred to me that I could boycott Unilever products. I have quite a few opportunities to choose another comany in my toiletries shopping.
Thanks for having a home for these issues.
It is truly unbelievable how much more media attention Unilever and Lynx are getting because groups like yours start rants like this.
There are people out there who understand what Lynx is marketing is just a bunch of provocative models with suggestive slogans. Companies using sex to sell product is not new. Why all the ruckus so suddenly?
It is admirable that the lot of you so badly want something done about this but where does it end? I’m sure every company that manufactures aftershaves, perfumes and clothing is guilty of such behaviour, no doubt some worse than others but it is there. At some point, I fear, you will all have to just harden up.
The other important thing to note is that there are women appearing in these ads willingly. While you can quickly label it as objectifying women as sex objects, has no one considered the fact that these women are forging a career in modeling or advertising using just one of their many assets? Is it not possible that a woman be stunning to look at AND have the cunning and intelligence to milk it for all it’s worth?
What you call objectification, some women call a career. Also, let it be noted that no visitor to the Lynx lodge has ever boasted about the sex acts performed there. I would assume it is just like a regular spa only sexier. Again, harden up.
Hi Snake,
None of the points you have made, (which we have heard from critics ad nauseum) change the fact that this advertising objectifies and degrades women, even if some women have chosen to participate. The research is showing that a culture that persistently presents women as objects for male sexual gratification, is having a negative impact on the health of women and girls. So much so, the American Psychological Association has referred to the culture as a ‘toxic culture’ for women and girls. As much as our critics would like to sweep aside those inconvenient truths, the evidence of harm is there. Sex is not being used to sell Lynx deodorant, but pornography and sexism is and we will continue to boycott Unilever as long as they continue down this well worn road.
Team CS,
It is only in the perception that these ads degrade and objectify women. I could use the very same argument and say that these ads actually degrade men. They make the assumption that men are only attracted to physical aspects of a woman’s character and that intelligence and personality are of no importance to men. I guess that part of it has no place in your action though right?
As mentioned earlier, in a similar fashion to Lynx, Old Spice does the same think with their infamous “I’m on a horse” ad. The trend continues with every personal hygiene product available on the market… Look at commercials for razors, toothbrushes and males’ hair product. They all depict a rather muscular, fit male, topless, looking over his reflection in his bathroom, satisfied with the result of said product only to get the attention of an attractive female later in the ad. Of course these sorts of more subtle approaches do not attract the attention of organisations like yours. Why is that?
I agree that the sexualisation of children has to stop. I agree that pop culture in particular does take sexy to somewhat risky levels but that is where my agreement ends. To stop this sort of behaviour by censorship does nothing. I feel at some point people need to stop complaining and start parenting.
Snake,
If you use that same argument relating to men, we agree with you. In fact, our ‘Lynx Stynx’ campaign makes that very point in one of our opening sentences where we say ‘Men, Lynx thinks you are stupid.’
We don’t deny that objectification has an impact on men, but is women who are predominantly the target which is why our organisation focus’s on the effect on women and girls.
Finally, it is not only parents who are concerned about these issues.
Whats the address of this resort. It really needs to be checked out thoroughly from the inside to know just how truly evil it is. Me and my mates are just the people for that job! Hold me, I may never escape the clutches of those she-devils!
wow. the Lynx Lodge looks like a little piece of man-paradise to me. thanks for putting up this article, for I may never have heard of it otherwise.
I’m excited. I’m going to be there day one.
The prize has been won by a woman. She’s very happy with it.
Please continue complaining about how sexist Lynx is.
It amuses me greatly.
Thank you Chris, your own comment is also very amusing since it misses the point entirely.
I had a feeling you’d think that. Call it intuition if you like.
However, all the crowing about how Lynx is running a “brothel” and how disgusting it is going to be that they’re having “sex slaves” being forced to grant every whim of the Lynx Lodge’s clientel seems a little redundant now that a woman has won the competition and is absolutely wrapped that she and 7 of her friends will be able to have a wonderful holiday, being waited on hand and foot, pampered and generally treated like Goddesses at the behest of this so called “sexist gentleman’s club”.
Clearly if they are happy to extend the same respect and level of courtesy and service to both men and women, they’re really not all that sexist, are they? Isn’t that what equality is supposed to be about? No double standards?
As for the models in the advertising campaign, it’s their choice. They are empowered women who are indeed, using their sexuality to make a successful living. They are not victims.
Apart from that, anyone who can’t see this tongue in cheek style of advertising for what it is, a light hearted celebration of the differences between men and women, desperately needs a sense of humour transplant.
5 Trackbacks
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Simon de Bruyn, Collective Shout. Collective Shout said: New blog post: Lynx hits a new low http://collectiveshout.com/2010/08/lynx-hits-a-new-low/ [...]
[...] do we change this? Perhaps a boycott of Lynx and Unilever is in order. But in today’s society this raises more questions where we live in a place where large companies [...]
[...] Shout has launched the “Lynx Stynx” campaign, and in this post there is an extensive list of contact details via which you can make a complaint: Unilever, [...]
[...] Lynx Lodge- Part 1, email from Unilever. Posted on October 1, 2010 by nicub Lets start here, where I first found out about this. CLICK HERE [...]
[...] a winner will be the first to stay at the Lodge with seven friends. Collective Shout supporter Jade posted Woolworths response to the letter she sent them about the Lynx Lodge. Thank you for your email to Woolworths concerning [...]