As a travel blog with both a specific Cougar Travel category and a generic Cougars category, we understand we might be a little biased on this question. But we're nonetheless a little bit skeptical about the controversy coming out of New Zealand, where an Air New Zealand contest and ad is drawing vociferous criticism from rape prevention and survival groups. It's not that rape isn't a serious issue, and we're obviously not making the "men can't get raped" argument. It's just that we're having trouble seeing "pro-sexual violence" in this lighthearted campaign.
The contest offered cougars—defined for Air New Zealand's purposes as any 35+ woman who preys on men at least 10 years her junior—the opportunity to win free tickets to a rugby tournament. Contestants had to send pictures of themselves and their "cougar mates" out on the town. The objections are coming from New Zealand's Rape Prevention Education, which insists that the ad&3151;the ad, not the contest—is degrading to women and insulting to male rape survivors. Again we're highly skeptical. Is it really the phrase "meat hungry cougars," which is one of the lines that keeps getting cited? Eh.
If nothing else, the entire absurdist tone of the fake nature documentary makes it hard to take anything about it seriously. Luckily the magic of the internet allows us to embed the ad, which we've done after the jump. See for yourself.
For the record—just so everyone's on the same page—the advertising campaign was wildly successful and that line about Enya and the Eurythmics is objectively funny. On that note, have at it in the comments.
Related Stories:
· Air New Zealand mauled over cougar ad [News.co.au]
· Air New Zealand [Jaunted]
· Travel Advertising [Jaunted]
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