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St. Cloud State University
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Billboard causes debate
By Regina Eckes
Published:
Thursday, April 24, 2003
Media Credit: Ryan Henry
At the corner of 12th Ave. N. and St. Germain St., this billboard, sponsored by 103.7 FM, � the Loon,� has caused some controversy among local women�s rights groups because of its racy image.
Degrading, clever, awesome, disgusting, rude and okay are some of the many words that have recently been associated with KLZZ's newest billboard, which can be seen on Division Street.
St. Cloud radio station KLZZ 103.7 "The Loon," started its new advertising campaign in early April, according to the St. Cloud Times, after deciding the type of billboard being displayed would attract the station's target audience, men ages 18-54.
The billboard features a female model with her backside towards viewers wearing underwear and a tank top with the slogan, "Now turn us on."
The ad campaign has caused mixed reactions from students and professors alike. Many students have either not come across the billboard or do not consider it to be offensive any more than what society normally puts out for people to see.
"Personally, I don't see anything wrong with it to tell you the truth," Jason Movrich, SCSU sophomore said. "It's just advertising. It's nothing really different than anything else you see on TV. For heaven's sake, you see a Snapple bottle at a strip joint and they start doing some wacky stuff. Is that provocative? I'd say so. But what do we do? We laugh at it."
Nick Gerger and Jeff Keller are also sophomores at SCSU and do not find the billboard offensive or demeaning towards women.
"I think it's absolutely fine because it's clever advertising. If they had the same thing up with a Victoria's Secret model on it, no on would really care," Gerger said.
Keller agreed.
"If it really degraded women, would that person volunteer to model for that picture," he said.
Despite their arguments for the billboard, there are students who argued the other side of the issue and how it affects people other than college students.
"Think about girls who are in junior high and high school who drive by and see that and have body image issues," Becky Barsness said. "And I think it's completely inappropriate to have it on Division too. Everybody drives on Division."
Corey Erickson agrees that the advertisement is inappropriate and commented that though KLZZ might be focusing on older men, everyone takes notice of the billboard.
"It targets pretty much everybody," he said. "Even women driving down the road are going to look and see what it is."
As a communication studies professor that deals with young adults of both sexes, Jennifer Tuder feels the ad is unprofessional and goes along with negative stereotypes.
"I don't think this advertisement is a good idea. It is sexist and plays on some of the worst stereotypes about men and women both," Tuder said. "I see it as, frankly, kind of juvenile."
Because so many are opposed to "The Loon" billboard, SCSU's Women's Center has started The Community Coalition against Sexism. They received numerous calls and letters from community members and students asking them to do something about the controversial billboard. Tamara Hennes-Vix is a graduate assistant at the Women's Center and helped form the coalition.
"The Community Coalition Against Sexism came together to address the billboard and the message it's sending," said Hennes-Vix. "They're using a woman's body to sell a product. Women need to be seen as strong and independent in their own right without having to use their bodies to get that."
So far the group has sent out letters asking companies to pull their advertisements from KLZZ. If they do not respond, the coalition plans on taking more action, possibly boycotting advertisers that support KLZZ.
Not only are people on campus reacting to the billboard alone, they are reacting to how the Women's Center is handling the situation.
Because images like the one seen on the billboard can be seen almost anywhere in society, Movrich believes the Women's Center should maybe do more if they want to do anything at all.
"If the Women's Center wants to go that far, they should go further. If they want to say something about a billboard maybe they should say something about TV. Sex sells; everybody knows that," Movrich said.
Professors Tuder and Mark Mills may not like the billboard but believe in KLZZ's right to free speech and press.
"When you have a first amendment you can't censor anything like that," Mills told the University Chronicle. "If you want to be constitutional and legal you can't censor a billboard. It really doesn't matter whether it's ethical or not, it's just a matter of whether it's legal."
Mills went on to say that the Women's Center has the same rights as other companies and should be allowed to do whatever it is they feel necessary to support their opinions, whether that means getting the sign taken down or organizing a boycott.
Tuder also agrees that the Women's Center should take a proactive stance if inclined to do so. However, she believes they might not be taking the strongest approach to solving the problem. She would like to see a type of counter advertisement so people viewing the billboard would see both sides of the issue.
"Let (the billboard) stay there, fine, but say something about it," Tuder suggested. "Make people think about it critically. I think that's the better move, the stronger move than removing it altogether. How many people are going to drive down Division and know why it was even removed in the first place."
Whether or not KLZZ's billboard stays up or comes down, many people are inquiring about its effectiveness already and if the woman on the board is really enticing people, especially men, to turn the station. Keller and Gerger, who do not mind the billboard, would not let the advertisement decide whether they would listen to the station or not.
"I'll listen to the station because I like classic rock, not the billboard," Keller said.
Movrich agrees with the principle of Keller's statement even though he is not a rock fan himself.
"I'm not more inclined to listen to the station because I'm not a rock fan, and it wouldn't push me to become a rock fan either."
Although students may not start programming 103.7 into their radios, KLZZ still has an influence on people. Keller believes the sign was meant to "piss people off" because then people would create hype about the station, for good or bad. Mills finds the ad to be affective because "sex sells" whether people like it or not. It is something that grabs the majority's attention in our culture every day.
"It's a truism in the advertising world that sex sells, there's no way around it. I didn't make the rules, you didn't make the rules, but that's the way they are," Mills said. "(The billboard) probably is effective because anything that draws a person's attention to the radiostation will make it stick in their mind and that's all the advertisers are going for; that's all that billboard is trying to do.
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