Channel 4 has come under fire on Twitter with people branding their their new Naked Attraction bus campaign 'creepy' and 'tone deaf'.
The new adverts appear on London double decker buses as part of a nationwide campaign and are completely black apart from three arrows pointing up to those sitting in top floor seats.
One arrow states they ‘Love Naked Attraction’, the second ‘Hates Naked Attraction’ while the final claims the person above ‘Loves being naked’.
Those who have seen the ad have accused the broadcaster of being ‘inappropriate’ in this new ad, using passengers without consent and for being misjudged in the idea considering the amount of sexual harassment that occurs on public transport.
The ad went viral across social media on Monday after columnist Tracy King brought it to her followers’ attention, sharing a photo and writing: “You can’t just label non-consenting passengers like that. Does @Channel4 not know how many sexual assaults take place on buses?”
“In general you have to be very careful with adverts that include the public without their consent, and that goes double for public transport. Passengers shouldn’t have to navigate ‘am I the butt of a joke on my way to work today’,” she added.
“If you do go down that route(master), you absolutely should not under any circumstance make the joke a sexualised one. I don’t know why that isn’t @tfl and @global policy already but it should be. Passengers can’t consent to this stuff.
“It’s exhausting enough being a demographic that is more likely to be harassed or assaulted on public transport without being co-opted into a creepy @Channel4 ad without our consent.”
Many were quick to support the call to get the ad removed, with one person responding: “Must admit this isn't a very good ad.
"Children like to ride buses on the top, and with Naked Attraction being post-watershed, it would be a much wiser idea to use another show, so then children aren't marked as liking the show. The "loves being naked" bit is another story.”
“As someone who was groped on the London underground I find this add really inexcusable come on @TfL and @Channel4 was there even a woman in the room when you came up with this and signed it off,” said another.
Not everyone was offended by the ad.
One person wrote: "I think it's quite an amusing advert and I don't know why everyone is thinking too much into it."
According to a 2020 YouGov report, more than half of women in London have been victim to some kind of unwanted sexual behaviour on public transport.
Speaking to Mirror Online, TfL have said in a statement: “We work tirelessly to ensure public transport is a safe environment for everyone and any report of sexual assault or inappropriate behaviour is investigated and treated extremely seriously.
“Following recent public feedback we are urgently reassessing whether these adverts should continue to run on our bus network.”
Mirror Online has contacted Channel 4 for comment.
