Stockholm Bans 'Sexist' Billboard Ads

Caleb Tolin | June 14, 2018
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In an effort to weed out “sexists and racists," Stockholm City Council has voted to ban any advertisement that is deemed as such. Previously, the advertisement industry in the city was self-regulated, but now the city can remove advertisements if they’re deemed inappropriate.

Green Party deputy mayor Daniel Helldén told The Local: "The city has a responsibility towards its citizens, to ensure that advertising they are exposed to is not offensive or upsetting in any way."

Helldén was the one who really pushed for this initiative and, with statements like that, it seems like the city is getting a lot of control over what private industries can and cannot advertise.

A similar policy was proposed in Stockholm in 2008 but was voted down.

Lingerie companies such as Victoria’s Secret and other local lingerie stores could face a huge problem since the majority of their advertisements are hypersexualized.

This is a move that is spreading across Europe that began when Paris officials voted to ban offensive advertisements and billboards early in 2017. Action in Berlin followed Paris’ move and called for the same style of advertisement ban in June of last year as well.

All of these cities are striving for "gender equality" and Sweden has been deemed as the worst Nordic country for the measure by the Swedish Women’s Lobby. In 2015 Sweden was ranked 14th on the Gender Equality Index, four slots behind the United States.

(Cover Photo: Flickr)

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