Queensland marketer pushes back after ‘exploitative’ billboard ruling
Real estate agency and marketer Amy Knight sets the record straight on Facebook
A Queensland real estate agency has clashed with Australia’s advertising watchdog after a billboard featuring the tagline “Joshua: the results. Amy: the reason you noticed” was found to be sexist.
Ipswich-based Schweitzer Estate Agents posted a series of Facebook videos pushing back against Ad Standards’ ruling that the billboard breached the AANA Code of Ethics for content considered “discriminatory and exploitative or degrading.”
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Ad Standards noted that material can be deemed exploitative or degrading even if the person appears confident, particularly if they are portrayed as a commodity, or the focus on their body is irrelevant to the product or service.
The complaint concerned a photo of the real estate duo, Joshua Schweitzer and Amy Knight, with the panel ruling that viewers would have no reason to interpret “the reason you noticed” as referring to Knight’s professional contribution, as the agency claimed.
Schweitzer Estate Agents’ billboard was noticed for the wrong reasons by Ad Standards
In response, Schweitzer Estate Agents said the billboard would be changed within a week, adding that “Joshua is the real estate agent, Amy is the photographer and handles all the marketing.
“Our point of difference is that we handle everything in-house and are a local family business. ‘The reason you noticed’ refers to her craft in marketing & photography, not her physical appearance. The thought of this being a ‘sexist’ message never crossed our mind: we are simply a young family trying to get our business off the ground and wanted to highlight our points of difference.”
The estate agent followed up the ruling with a series of Facebook videos showing Knight presenting a slide deck on what “our billboard DOES NOT MEAN”.
Mumbrella has Schweitzer Estate Agents for further comment.
