Dear Mayor Daley:
While I was going to work this morning, I was shocked to see on the side of a CTA bus an advertisement stating "Deaf Girls Can't Hear You Coming." The ad contained no other information that I could see, just this statement that appears to appeal to stalkers, rapists or would-be rapists, in addition to containing a rather blunt sexual double entendre as well as mocking the disabled. Upon getting to my office, I looked up this quote and found out it was advertising the film "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell," a film created by Tucker Max whose treatment of women can be called problematic, to say the least.
I find it appalling that the CTA would accept such an advertisement to be placed on the side of public transportation. Does the CTA really think it is acceptable to force their customers to be confronted with an ad making light of rape on a daily basis? Does the CTA think it is acceptable to make light of the hearing-impaired?
I am a social worker who is working on putting together a counseling intervention for people who have survived sexual assault as children or adolescents. I find it infuriating that one of my clients, people working on coping mechanisms for dealing with their assault, could have all of their work shattered after being triggered by a CTA advertisement. I find it equally appalling that the CTA finds it acceptable to potentially trigger victims of sexual assault all over the city with this advertisement.
In the middle of a campaign to bring the Olympics to Chicago, does it make the slightest bit of sense to have pro-rape advertising on the city's official public transportation?
I will also be contacting the CTA about this advertisement. I certainly hope you will look into having these advertisements removed from our public transportation, and encourage the CTA to be more selective about their ads in the future. I recognize that CTA ad revenue is important to the continuation of our public transportation system, but this ad is simply unacceptable.
Thank you,
[Paul the Spud]
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