RP women's groups cry foul over mobile phone ad

Women's rights advocates cried foul over a newspaper ad of a mobile phone company they considered demeaning to women. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) office on women questioned in particular the ad depicting a "woman with her legs spread wide open." In an article on the Philippine bishops' news Website, CBCP Office on Women’s Executive Secretary Zenaida Rotea said the mobile phone in the ad was “strategically placed between" the model’s legs. Rotea represented one of several women's advocacy groups who signed an open letter addressed to government authorities and private institutions. The letter protested the “deplorable use of a woman’s body in advertisements that in effect reduce it to a mere commodity." She said the advertisement not only tries to sell the product but “subliminally promotes a mentality that actually insults the consumer’s intelligence." Rotea cited Article IV of the Advertising Code of Ethics, where advertisements "should not cause serious or widespread offense against generally accepted moral, social or cultural standards or offend public sensitivities." She said the provision also stated, “Advertisements should not depict or exploit persons as sex objects." Signing the protest letter were representatives from the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines, National Council of Churches in the Philippines, Religious of the Good Shepherd, Batis-AWARE, Institute of Women Studies, SPA-St. Scholastica, Citizens Disaster Response Center and Gabriela (women's party). — LBG, GMANews.TV