[Closed] Sexism in bikes, part 186 - Specialized the 70's called

capitalism is sexist.
But yeah let's all complain about Specialized and Playboy

Nobody forced them to do it, they thought it was a great way to promote a product.

? really? 🙄

Reminds me of the Ford adverts when they photoshoped all the black workers out of the poster and replaced them with white workers.

This wont effect Specialized, like when they told 'THAT' shop to change it's name or face court (Fuji stepped in and had a WORD'. Shame Specialized are to big to fail or feel the impact of any protest about their behaviour 🙁 (just like Ford)

Is it really so sexist and terrible?

I mean Specialized - yes the Ford 'incident' was disgusting.

I wouldn't have wanted my photo taken next to those ladies and it may have made me avoid looking at the stand (not through protest, but feeling uncomfortable being next to very scantily clad ladies) but it wouldn't put me off buying a bike from the big S.

Surely beautiful women and beautiful bikes are a great thing together. I'm not even being a deliberate arsehole (and I often am), but I'm yet to feel offended by any of the latest 'sexism in our sport'. I genuinely wouldn't have an issue if the latest ladies specific bike from any range had some hunk in lycra on it.

Do you think female has actually been put off riding because of an ad with a good looking girl in it? I go to the gym despite all the adds showing guys (and ladies) who could do bicep curls with me.

Think the guy in the I hate Jeffsy adverts was chosen for his gnarness or acting ability?

This sort of cultural difference towards being offended is exactly why STW needs to pull out of the EU.

STW needs to pull out of the EU.

A Sexit?

😀 😀

Reminds me of the Ford adverts when they photoshoped all the black workers out of the poster and replaced them with white workers.

Yeah it's just as bad as that

Are you saying one vile act is better than the other 😕

Reminds me of the Ford adverts when they photoshoped all the black workers out of the poster and replaced them with white workers.

Yeah it's just as bad as that

And that is just as bad as Nazism. Which is bad!

There, I'm the person who is the most offended - what do I win ?

Unlike makecoldplayhistory I'm very comfortable in the proximity of scantily clad ladies,but I think using the Playboy link to sell an ebike tells you exactly who it's aimed at i.e.fat elderly American men 8)

I wonder how many of you have put Danny Macaskill on the naughty step too.

'Scantily clad'......really?
I'm sure if you'd have stuck the young ladies in lycra you'd have still had complaints?
I'm not really getting the partnership (I'm presuming it's financial?) but people just seem to be jumping on the moral high ground bandwagon.
Chill.......no one got hurt.

Yawn. World needs to calm down and untwist their knickers.

Are women's only bike clubs and events sexist?

Are women's only bike clubs and events sexist?

Edit...
I'd also prefer the budget put aside for eye candy was spent on equal pay, prize money and sponsorship for women's events.

Stw professionally offended handwringers to the forum please.

Monika Zamojska, cycle clothing brand House of Astbury co-founder, spotted the “Playboy Bunnies” at the Berlin Fahrradschau over the weekend, and says she feels the marketing contributes to a gender imbalance in the cycling industry and in the sport.

A bit like the ratio of boys to girls on the front of cycling mags then?

Not so much offended at disappointed at the complete lack of imagination on how to promote their products other than by association with what's at best a sleazy brand Specialized have shown.

I follow @thenoodleator on Twitter who works for them and she's done a lot to promote women's cycling and the Specialized brand with innovative and different stuff over the past few years and yet they manage to shoot themselves in the foot with this.

Playboy will be delighted as they get more publicity and don't care about it's quality or tone, of course.

ever wondered about the ratio of girls to boys on the cover of runners world?
Im offended.
But slightly aroused.

Specialised have in the past done what I thought were excellent adverts involving women. Dressed for cycling, covered in mud, with big grins. And head only shots.

Looks like some people missed the mark this time though. I'd hope head office are having some strong words.

Don't get me started on sports illustrated.

Lovely, lovely, sports illustrated..

Reminds me of the Ford adverts when they photoshoped all the black workers out of the poster and replaced them with white workers.

ever wondered about the ratio of girls to boys on the cover of runners world?
Im offended.
But slightly aroused.

No but I am now. Is it mostly boys in shorty shorts? 🙂

Jesus ****ing Christ here we go again......

There's a commercial partnership between 2 iconic and longstanding American brands. It's not (as this half truth story reports) Specialized using Playboy bunnies to promote a bike - that's one of Playboy's signature branding elements.

We don't know what kind of $$$ Playboy paid Spesh for the branding rights on the limited edition but I'd guess it was healthy.

Can't help thinking the "professionally offended" perpetuate the myth to allow people like that Adele to monetise her freelance rants, and sites to leverage the traffic from handwringers for commercial gain - and there's something a bit insidious about stirring up faux outrage just to make a quick buck.

I see ladies wearing less than that through their own free will most weekends.
Not offended.

We don't know what kind of $$$ Playboy paid Spesh for the branding rights on the limited edition but I'd guess it was healthy.
Can't help thinking the "professionally offended" perpetuate the myth to allow people like that Adele to monetise her freelance rants, and sites to leverage the traffic from handwringers for commercial gain

For all the stuff spec does with its women's ranges and all that to flip back to a crass 70's legacy is just cheap.

It doesn't look sexist, just looks like crap marketing really.

Women wear less on the beach, is that sexist now ?

I'm most offended that the man from Specialized referred to them as "40 unique bikes". Does he not understand the meaning of unique? Tsk.

How would you explain it to a young girl or boy as to why you need tits to sell stuff.

What about bras? Difficult to sell bras without tits. 😯

[i]Women wear less on the beach, is that sexist now ? [/i]

no. The sexist bit is where you use women in bikinis to sell a product that has nothing to do with women in bikinis.

But you knew that.

It's all very well lots of men declaring themselves not offended by this, but it's also almost completely irrelevant. It has obviously offended a number of female cyclists, which in my view is a bad thing.

As for comparing it to men on magazine covers, that's missing the point rather too. If scantily clad men were regularly being used to sell products in a massively female dominated market then that would be more similar, but it still wouldn't come close as it doesn't have a system with a history and present of inbuilt inequality behind it. I'm sure a lot of you have seen this video already, and it's about racism, not sexism, but the same principles apply:

Checked out the pictures.
Those girls would never be able to pedal with flats in those shoes. FAIL.

Specialized are definitely completely sexist. After all, they don't have a bike called the Fat[i]girl[/i] do they, eh?

Scott? Big Jon and Big Ed. Where's Big Joanna and Big Elsie?

How come Schwalbe do the Jumbo Jim but it's Magic Mary?

They're all bloody at it!

We don't know what kind of $$$ Playboy paid Spesh for the branding rights on the limited edition

Does the video explain how some types of racism are bad, but some are good, based on the skin colour of those on the receiving end ?

Well there's a surprise.

Oh and there is no such thing as reverse racism, there's just racism and you are guilty of posting up a racist video.

Well done you.

Hasn't cycling been in sexism shame since Lance and Victoira stripped off for their shoots - appalling weren't they 😉 ?

Specialised have in the past done what I thought were excellent adverts involving women.

Dressed for cycling,

covered in mud,

with big grins.

And head only shots.

(Aren't playboy just a particularly naff corner of the porn industry? why any bike company would want to be associated with a brand that evokes an octogenarian bobbing about in a sea of silicone defeats me, embarrassed looking lasses in eight inch heels notwithstanding....)

I'm most offended that the man from Specialized referred to them as "40 unique bikes". Does he not understand the meaning of unique? Tsk.

Uniquely offended?

If scantily clad men were regularly being used to sell products in a massively female dominated market then that would be more similar...

How about firemen calendars?

[img] [/img]

And let's not forget that scantily clad men are also used to sell to the male market.

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Would have thought better of Specialized as they always seemed like a good provider of female-specific equipment. This is very disappointing.

I'm a woman, I hate sexism and I hate sexist companies using naked women to sell products - I guess that makes me a "professional handwringer" in the eyes of about 70% of the male posters on this thread.

Didn't even notice the bike.

Does the video explain how some types of racism are bad, but some are good, based on the skin colour of those on the receiving end?

Maybe you should watch the video before commenting on it? But in answer to your question, no, he explicitly says that it has nothing to do with skin colour, it has to do with centuries of subjugation, enslavement and the building of a system that continues to massively disadvantage certain sections of society to this day. I don't entirely agree with what he says, and I don't want to portray myself as some kind of spokesperson for women or ethnic minorities because I am neither, but I think that sexism and racism both have to be understood within a historical context and with regard to the balance of power within society.

How about firemen calendars?

See above. It's closer, but it's still not the same. It's easy for men to be happy with this stuff when it's far less common and it's not just the tip of the iceberg in a system still full of inbuilt discrimination.

On a more positive note I think it's great that there are more and more women in cycling, and that they're standing up to companies like these when they feel that they've got something wrong.