NationStates Jolt Archive

A new Australian ad campaign is seeking to reduce road deaths by questioning the manhood of speeding drivers.

The series of TV ads shows women shaking their little finger - a gesture used to symbolise a small penis - as speeding male motorists race past.

[...]The new ads include one young driver revving his engine and rushing through traffic lights in front of two young women and another racing past a female pedestrian.

After both incidents the women wave their little fingers in slow motion with knowing glances.


You can view an ad here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6240000/newsid_6240700/6240712.stm?bw=nb&mp=rm).

Presumably the idea is that the gesture will catch on, and people will start wiggling their fingers at (male) speeding drivers, humiliating them.

Thoughts? Will it be effective?

Yeah... I'm thinking no. There's no such gesture here. Not in the western suburbs, anyway.

Besides, how sexist is this? "Only males are speeders".

That's because female speeders are too distracted by having to apply make-up while driving to speed as much as males. *nods*

That's because female speeders are too distracted by having to apply make-up while driving to speed as much as males. *nods*

Oh, so instead of deliberately crashing into other cars, they just do it INADVERTANTLY. That's much better.

Yeah... I'm thinking no. There's no such gesture here. Not in the western suburbs, anyway.


I've never seen it in Britain (nor here in France). I was wondering whether it was an Aussie thing, but I can't remember seeing it when I was living in Australia, either.

Perhaps they're hoping to create a new gesture that everyone would soon start using...

Oh, so instead of deliberately crashing into other cars, they just do it INADVERTANTLY. That's much better.

;) Precisely.

Of course, then you've got the middle-age soccermom women drivers in SUVs with their cellphones oblivious to EVERYTHING on the road...

So, here's my idea...

Let's take all the guys who wanna drag race and put them on the same high way as these women and let them at it!

Two problems solved at once.

I've never seen it in Britain (nor here in France). I was wondering whether it was an Aussie thing, but I can't remember seeing it when I was living in Australia, either.

Perhaps they're hoping to create a new gesture that everyone would soon start using...
I think they adopted it from too much old American tv where old naggy women wag their finger at their children and husbands trying to take some pie.

Besides, how sexist is this? "Only males are speeders".


strawman, it never said that. This particular ad is only aimed at bringing down males as it could not apply in this context to females.

strawman, it never said that. This particular ad is only aimed at bringing down males as it could not apply in this context to females.

Well, they better make an ad with guys doing the huge vagina sign at female speeders ;)

*cookie for who gets this*

This is just like the "This is your brain on drugs commercial." Kids will laugh at this.

This is just like the "This is your brain on drugs commercial." Kids will laugh at this.

To quote Penn and Teller while they were blasting the War on Drugs:

"This is how the federal government gives you information."
*"Brain on Drugs" commercial plays*

it's a New South Wales ad so it wont be seen in WA and i never seen that gesture at all

I think I saw the gesture once.

But then, if I'm speeding past them I won't see what they're doing anyways, so I don't care.

I like Ketchup Baby (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75GuzsGzoP0) better though. They should have made a whole series of commercials with Dr. Karl and Ketchup Baby explaining the dangers of speeding. They could have sold merchandise too.

[QUOTE=The Potato Factory;12815489]Well, they better make an ad with guys doing the huge vagina sign at female speeders ;)
[QUOTE]

That'd be a bit of a Shocker............

Is this one a duplicate, or was the one from last night the duplicate? :p Either way, I thought it was funny, but not likely to be effective.

Yeah... I'm thinking no. There's no such gesture here. Not in the western suburbs, anyway.

Besides, how sexist is this? "Only males are speeders".

no such gesture exists as far as i've seen in adelaide.

they're trying to say that men speed because they have a small penis, while women speed for other reasons (don't pay attention or thinking the rules don't apply to them because they have boob, whatever the case may be)