Toys in Babeland Ad Coordinator Mae Schultz says the Seattle Weekly decided to stop running a Babeland advertisement that showed five "dual-action vibrators" positioned like suspects in a police lineup because the ad was too phallic. The accompanying ad copy read: "These toys have been known to leave women satisfied and happy. If you see one of these toys, purchase immediately and return to the safety of your bedroom." The ad, Schultz says, had been running in the Seattle Weekly since mid-July (the ad also appeared in The Stranger), but the Weekly decided to ax it because--she was told--the paper had to "draw a line." The Weekly informed Schultz that its readers had complained about the content of the paper's ads. As a result, she says, Weekly management came up with new guidelines about sex ads that left the Babeland vibrator ad out in the cold. Seattle Weekly Director of Advertising Tim Micklos did not return our calls.
The ad was last scheduled to run in the Weekly's March 23 edition, Schultz says, but she was told to send a replacement ad for that issue. Schultz complied and sent along an ad featuring a hand and some butterflies, which ran instead. The original ad copy was also deleted.
"It's ironic," says Rachel Venning, co-owner of Toys in Babeland. "The Weekly is a paper with escort ads, but when it comes to an ad oriented toward women's pleasure, it gets cut. That's our beef."
