[Closed] That Maxxis "babes calendar" article...

All that's going to happen if the super PC drive continues the way it's going is we'll end up in a sterile society where nobody feels any emotions, passion, lust or excitement. It's ok to find other people attractive, it's ok to produce things that feed this and it's ok to show off if you're an eye pleaser! I assume the models in the calendar had a say in doing the shoots and were paid for it?

The scales are absolutely swining the wrong way and I'm sure it'll settle eventually, but an equal society is one that accepts the other sex, not one that tries to iron out everything that they are.

Why would you buy this?

It costs £5, you see NAKED ladies for free on the internet!

All joking aside, I think it's aimed at the "more likely to be non-PC" customers of their MX, ATV or drift car tyres.

MX seems particularly "bad" with Monster Energy Girls etc etc.

Its not really the pictures, its the baggage that comes with it.

Although my wife (whose mother coined the phrase 'right to choose') has been on the sharp end of comments when she criticized feminazi's as not helping the cause.

I like looking at boobies and I like knowing what date it is. I use my phone for both. Screw you Maxxis and your old fashioned media!

I'm sure that in addition to paper and digital there is a third way to look at boobies but for the life of me I can't recall what it is...

All that's going to happen if the super PC drive continues the way it's going is we'll end up in a sterile society where nobody feels any emotions, passion, lust or excitement where we will all be men made of straw

Good point if we ban exploitative calendars will have no emotions...the link is obvious when you think about it.

Sorry but that post really made me laugh and i cannot tell if it was a troll or serious

I'm sure that in addition to paper and digital there is a third way to look at boobies but for the life of me I can't recall what it is...

Yer Mam's catalogue?

David - ever worked in a club or similar? Abroad? Etc?
Women are without doubt the worst of the worst for all of what you posted.
"Because they can" is the phrase and they do - continually - because they can!
Comments, rude remarks, offers, even cuts and bruises from being grabbed over the years.
It really is a case of the double standards Cougar mentioned.

I'm not saying I agree with the calendars contents but I disagree with the fact that it is "not allowed" because of "insert whatever word/phrase you want here".
The very fact that any form of picture/calendar/etc with a female (even clothed) is not allowed as its discriminatory in the workplace or otherwise is fair enough.
The fact that a female can put up a picture/calendar/etc with a guy/s on it in varying states of undress and its deemed perfectly acceptable under the above law is an utter arse and a mockery of the law.
Either both are not allowed or neither - one on ly shouldn't be and isn't fair or right.

Mmmm, not sure here, rightly or wrongly ‘sex sells’ and is used in virtually ALL forms of product advertising, the link to the calendar does not actually open the calendar, only the front cover that has female silhouettes on it, do you same people complain about the Armani aftershave adverts on the TV with men in only swimming trunks for example? Is appreciation of the human form and its association with a product wrong?

Another one who is torn here. I completely agree with everything that Adele says.

Though at the same time, I can't help but feel like I'm not really target market for diet coke, David Beckham's underpants or gaultier/joop after shave.

(More Horlicks, Damart and Old Spice I think)

The thing is, maybe the marketing departments do employ the brightest and best, and maybe, just maybe, sex still sells

Or, more likely, the bright young things in Maxxis's marketing dept know full well what level their target (Car, Motorbike and truck tyre fitting) audience works at and the ruffled feathers of a bunch of latte sipping IT managers who've never fitted a car tyre in their lives is of very little concern to them. Yes I know I'm generalising here.

You'll note that there is a conspicuous lack of cycle product on the 'babes' site list [url= http://maxxisbabes.co.uk/products ]here[/url](not that I'm encouraging traffic for this, but if you want to check that I've done my homework, there it is)

Whilst the rather awkward bored looking 'booth babe' has largely disappeared from cycle trade shows, go to a Motorcycle expo and there are still legions of them. Cycling is broadly considered a very 'middle class Guardian reader' activity so marketing aimed at us has evolved accordingly and has come a fair way since the full page Wades Cycles adverts in MBUK with Michelle marsh draped over a Kona but that was still only ten years ago.

We've come a long way in cycling, some haven't realized this (Hello Colnago!) and we still have a long way to go, but outside of our little bubble much of the rest of the world hasn't even started on this journey, and it's them that Maxxis are selling to and if their research didn't show that they were getting a good ROI they would stop very quickly.

I even have a tiny silther of sympathy with the bods in Maxxis's marketing department, who all probably know better than this but continue to churn out this hackneyed old tripe because, sadly, it works and they're paid to get results, even if they do cringe internally as they upload another picture of 'Chantelle, 22 from Bilaricay' draped over a truck tyre.

Interesting how different media has different morals attached to it.

Or should that be different target audience?

MTB tires a predominantly "male" product and girlie poster a no no.

Have you seen a Pop videos these days ?? 😯 ... But guess that's a predominantly "young" ladies' audience so the music industry somehow get away with it ??

The fact that a female can put up a picture/calendar/etc with a guy/s on it in varying states of undress and its deemed perfectly acceptable under the above law is an utter [s]arse and a mockery of the law.[/s] MYTH

FTFY

David - ever worked in a club or similar? Abroad? Etc?
Women are without doubt the worst of the worst for all of what you posted.
"Because they can" is the phrase and they do - continually - because they can!
Comments, rude remarks, offers, even cuts and bruises from being grabbed over the years.
It really is a case of the double standards Cougar mentioned.

I once went to a night club and got groped by a woman....turns out she was on a hen do and the "dare" was to grope the ugliest man in the club 🙁

But seriously; I know exactly what you're saying. But I don't think it's a good argument to say it's fine because some women do it aswell.....

Its not Junkyard - its only if another member of staff "objects" and no one ever does!
As an employer I had to ensure that there were no "offensive articles displayed". One depicting topless males is not deemed to be offensive but a woman in a full swimsuit is.
The rules are skewed.

David - I'm not saying its fine - thats my point.
I'm saying its wrong that the sexes are treated differently and women are allowed to get away with stuff that would see a guy sharing a cell with Bubba.

Push it out as far as sexual harassment - then picture how differently a female and a male walking in to the HR office would be treated....

Its not Junkyard - its only if another member of staff "objects" and no one ever does!
As an employer I had to ensure that there were no "offensive articles displayed". One depicting topless males is not deemed to be offensive but a woman in a full swimsuit is.
The rules are skewed.

Yes; because of sexism and social conditioning

but an equal society is one that accepts the other sex, not one that tries to iron out everything that they are.

Quite right, although I suspect not in the way you meant.

[quote=tpbiker ] Lots of my female friends currently posting pics of topless french firemen on a calender at the mo...And lots of admiring comments..

We can do the Scottish firefighter version wee bald mannies with a paunch if your female friends are interested?

As an employer I had to ensure that there were no "offensive articles displayed". One depicting topless males is not deemed to be offensive but a woman in a full swimsuit is.
The rules are skewed.

as an employer you could have evened them up if you were as bothered about it as you'd like us all to think.

Sex sells

No, it does not. There is no correlation between advertising effectiveness and use of sexual imagery. As suggested above, it is used by either lazy ad-makers, or their clients, who cannot think of anything interesting to say about their own product.

Every time sex is used in advertising is a missed opportunity to say why a product or brand will benefit a person.

A meta-analysis of sex and violence in advertising [url= https://news.osu.edu/news/2015/07/21/sex-violence/ ]here[/url].

It would be great if Maxxis could turn this around and do something positive.

It would be great if Maxxis could turn this around and do something positive.

Donate the money to charity......?

Just checked, the Internet is still absolutely jam packed with porn.
Apparently men still enjoy objectifying woman, woman, woman do men, men do men, woman do woman.

I can't believe it either. Do they not know its not1973.
I take it that woman who wrote the article has never viewed porn, admired a scantily clad man on a tv or magazine add for the latest perfume or even taken a second or two to admire a beautiful man she passes in the street.

Admiring beauty of either sex, naked or otherwise does not make you a pervert or a rapist, it makes you normal.

Get over yourselfs, if you find the human form or bare flesh so offensive don't buy their product but don't label people who don't have a problem with it as immature or thick or a brute.

Maybe you are the immature ones.

I couldn't really care less about the calendar, i'm not going to buy it regardless of the charity donation. but some folk will and that's fine because the models, I assume, knew exactly what they were doing and were happy with getting paid for people to ogle their bodies.

What we really need to do as parents is teach our children the difference between what is and what isn't acceptable/appropriate and that the appropriateness or acceptability comes from the individual. You don't do stuff to people that they don't want you to do.

If people don't buy the calendars then they will stop selling them. If we teach our children proper ways to be a decent person then this sort of thing will die out. I don't think we should just ban stuff like this though, as some women obviously want to do it and some people still want the calendars, it doesn't instantly make them bad people though.

I'm more bothered about perfume ads, they are just rubbish and don't make any sense, they may as well just say "smell like this and you'll get a shag". But loads of money is spent on them with some famous people starring in the ads so that all ok.

As someone who has worked as a creative in various marketing departments, I'm not really offended when I see this kind of thing. Well... not in that Millie Tant kind of way. In the old cliche, I'm just disappointed

Its more a case of looking at it and thinking "is that it? Is that the best you can do? That's the limit of your imagination, is it?"

this. so much this. see also: every TV advert ever, etc

Just look at it - someone came up with that idea, someone else signed it off, someone else put it together, all these people worked on this worthless waste of life.

someone with qualifications in graphic design would have put that Maxxis thing together. Someone who once had aspirations and joy in life and a desire to create original and interesting work is now spending their days taking orders from some prat who goes "make it look like an issue of Max Power c. 1997".

just like people with English or Journalism degrees churn out articles in the Daily Mail about a celebrity 8 year old in a bikini. Poxy bastards.

🙁

Doris - as an employer - there aren't ANY up anywhere period. They've got a calendar on the computer and their phones.
They can sod off to site and do some bloody work!

I'm bothered about the double standards and what is deemed acceptable for one isn't for the other.

just a question...

are the "babes" featured their "athletes" who would be under a certain level of pressure to do it to retain sponsorship, who's job is to be good at the sport....

or models, who's job is to look attractive in pictures?

because if its the first, id have a much bigger problem with it.

I get annoyed at the double standards I see on FB. Lots of my female friends happily share pictures of barely clothed men yet male friends are afraid to do the reverse for fear of being banned. Either stop both sides or let it happen both sides. Meh. stooped first world problem.

I don't remember ever seeing a female friend post a picture of a barely clothed man on Facebook. I do know a few women who do fire spinning type stuff at festivals etc who will happily post topless pictures of themselves though, and FB doesn't seem to be bothered. One had a topless picture with nips out (that I took 🙂 ) as her cover photo for ages. I think it depends if it's considered artistic/tasteful and if anyone complains.

Whats the opinion of this sort of thing? http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/Meet-Lincolnshire-s-Calendar-Girls-stripped-WI/story-27967868-detail/story.html
is this OK or is it exploitative? Genuine question as it does have nude women as its main "selling" point.

I don't get it...

I'd be the first to stand up for anyone's rights and would be furious if anyone I knew didn't give someone a fair go because of their sex/skin colour etc.., but I really don't see how using sex as marketing is that bad.

We all like to look at the opposite sex, and the better looking members get looked at more (that includes women looking at guys too). It's how our brains are wired, and perfectly natural and basically how we find a mate.

If the models who do these shoots are happy to do it for a living, and I assume they get paid well and put a hell of a lot of effort into their looks to able to do it, then what's the issue? No ones being forced to do it...

I also don't like the phrase 'objectifying women'. When men look at such a calendar/image, we don't suddenly and instantly think 'all women should look like that and any who don't are unworthy of my time!'. Believe it or not, we're not(all) that stupid, and know the difference between an attractive photoshopped image and real life.

Where's the line? Is drawing a naked woman in a life drawing class an issue? What about naked statues of women?

All in all, my personal view is that I'm mature and smart enough not to let those type of images affect my judgement or attitude towards women, and take them for what they are - an image design to grab my attention.

Maybe I'm well off the mark with that, but it's just what I think.

As an employer I had to ensure that there were no "offensive articles displayed". One depicting topless males is not deemed to be offensive but a woman in a full swimsuit is.

We all like to look at the opposite sex, and the better looking members get looked at more (that includes women looking at guys too). It's how our brains are wired, and perfectly natural and basically how we find a mate.

OK, but what does this have to do with selling bike tyres? Pushing a bit further, what does this have to do with promoting products and services?

Would the calendar be OK if it featured equal numbers of semi naked guys as well as girls?

Why not print some of your equal opportunity calendars and see.

Will all religions and races be represented equally too?

Its not a commercial product. Its a charity calendar, as I understand it.

Obviously Maxxis imagine that the exposure the brand gets is worth the cost of production.

May as well have taken out a full page add in Readers Wives the way some are reacting...

What do horses galloping throughthe surf have to do with beer? What does a fat orange man slapping people have to do with fizzy juice, or a french wedding have to do with a small car?

You have no idea how advertising works.

saxabar - Member
We all like to look at the opposite sex, and the better looking members get looked at more (that includes women looking at guys too). It's how our brains are wired, and perfectly natural and basically how we find a mate.
OK, but what does this have to do with selling bike tyres? Pushing a bit further, what does this have to do with promoting products and services?

[quote=binners ]Why not print some of your equal opportunity calendars and see.
Will all religions and races be represented equally too?

you monster not one mention of homosexuals ....bigot.

I don't get it...

Clearly. And lots of men still don't it seems.

It's pathetic that these kind of calenders are still being produced. Got two daughters aged 6 & 10 and the oldest one has noticed how women are portrayed in the media and in advertising. When the wife and I have discussed with her why this is the case, I'm kind of embarrassed that in this days and age women are still objectified in the way that men aren't. I want them to grow up in a world where men and women are truly equal but this is so far from the case. The role of women in movies being a case in point and a particular bugbear of mine, where too often women are there just to be eye candy or as someone's wife/girlfriend. Far too many movies fail the Bechtel test, thankfully many us tv dramas give women at least equal status.

what does this have to do with selling bike tyres?

About as much as ringing bells has to do with dog food.

's a conditioned response designed to make you look.
Once they get you to look they're halfway there.

It's all about the underlying message. With adverts like this, Maxxis are basically ignoring women except as sexy accessories. It's the same as the podium girls thing.

Even if you reckon it's purely aimed at the motoring market, last time I went to the tyre fitters there were as many women there as men. It's pretty stupid to sideline 50% of your potential market like that.

Is this some sort of sop by the tyre company, ie they know they can't feature nipples so consider this will be deemed acceptable as the next best thing?

Strikes me that they're so hard of thinking by not realising this is the 21st century nor realising that there's some seriously talented females riding bikes who're winning medals. Nothing like alienating potential customers is there?

I thought it was a case that there was a small percentage of people who actually bothered to buy calendars like the Maxxis one, then at the other end of the spectrum a small percentage of people who were vocal about their dislike of them; most people were in the middle who just roll their eyes at them and then carry on with their day as they were 😕

cumberlanddan - Member
Its not a commercial product. Its a charity calendar, as I understand it.

Obviously Maxxis imagine that the exposure the brand gets is worth the cost of production.

May as well have taken out a full page add in Readers Wives the way some are reacting...

It's not hard to see why it has angered a woman/some womyn though.

Their passion/hobby; freedom and adrenaline on two wheels out in the woods, where everyone is equal. Something I'm sure plenty of women would enjoy, they should be encouraged to take up the sport. Be nice to think.

But, here's a calendar full of pictures of naked women, from your favorite tyre manufacturer. "This is what we think of women" - their only place in our sport is to sell tyres to lads/cumberlanddan etc. etc.

OK, but what does this have to do with selling bike tyres? Pushing a bit further, what does this have to do with promoting products and services?

You like looking at the image of nice lady, while she's wearing ORANGE underwear with ORANGE maxxis logos all over the place and probably near some maxxis products...

Who says the main subject matter in a promotion needs to be just your product nothing else?

Also, it's maybe not a masterminded example of marketing, and just, you know, a colander with 'interesting' images.

@glasgowdan, is that one pointed at me? If so, you're wrong. I am fully aware of what an emotional sales proposition is and the role of creativity in advertising. Use of boobs to flog tyres it ain't! If you have an interest in advertising, check [url= https://news.osu.edu/news/2015/07/21/sex-violence/ ]this study[/url].

It's the same mentality that has podium girls at the stage end of bike races, pretty girls draped over cars at motorshows and attractive women holding umbrellas over drivers in pit lanes of motor races. Utterly vile practices, nauseating in their outdatedness. Who is responsible for perpetuating these archaic displays of sexism when they should have died long ago..?