Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Calvin Klein Post's "Racy" Photo and Ray Comfort Speaks Out!

Designer Calvin Klein has placed a "racy" new advertisement on a five-story-high billboard on a Manhattan building in New York City, which shows half-naked teenagers lying on top of each other in sexually explicit positions.

According to TV co-host and best-selling author Ray Comfort, Sex not only sells jeans, it gets massive free publicity on CBS primetime. CBS "The Early Show" (June 15th) more than willingly scrolled over and zoomed into the lusty billboard an amazing sixteen times, as the show's host interviewed an expert on why she thought it was wrong to show such images in public. The usual reasons were given: it wasn't good for children to see such pictures, etc.

Comfort says there's another reason why Calvin Klein should rethink the tone of its advertising. Presently there are 673,989 registered sex offenders in the United States,[1] and hardly a day goes by when some child isn't abducted, raped, and murdered.

Back in April 1999, ABC TV put a racy billboard of a naked woman lying on her stomach in Comfort's neighborhood in Southern California. The image had a small towel draped across her backside, to keep it legal. Photo (above) of billboard Comfort covered with orange blanket

When Comfort saw that, he purchased an 18-foot ladder, climbed up the billboard and stapled a huge orange blanket over that naked woman's body.

"I don't want some sexually depraved pervert getting off on ABC's dirt, and raping and murdering my wife or daughter," Comfort says.

Comfort then took a picture of the blanketed billboard and released it to the media, in the hope that ABC would take him to court for willful damage of their property. But they didn't.

"Calvin Klein's campaign not only reveals that they couldn't care less about the abuse of our women and children, it also shows that they have no regard for what God says is right and wrong," says Comfort. "So Mr. Klein, don't even think of bringing your dirt and dumping it in my neighborhood, because I will be up my ladder with a staple gun in hand before the glue on your smutty image is dry."

Ray Comfort debated atheistic evolution on ABC's Nightline in 2007 and earlier this year debated on the BBC. He is the author of some 60 other books including "God Doesn't Believe in Atheists," "How to Know God Exists," and "Evolution: the Fairy Tale for Grownups." He is the publisher of "The Evidence Bible" and more recently, "The Atheist Bible (Unauthorized Version)" and, "The Charles Darwin Bible." His booklet, "The Atheist Test" has sold over a million copies.

U.S. Map of sex offenders: [1] http://cybertipline.com/en_US/documents/sex-offender-map.pdf


To interview Ray Comfort contact:
M. Sliwa Public Relations, 973-272-2861, media@msliwa.com

How you can pray:

1. That this might become a platform for Ray to proclaim the gospel.

2. That the publicity generated would drive more professing believers to Way of the Master\Living Waters websites and get the word out about biblical evangelism and the true gospel.

3. That the Lord would use this to draw the lost unto Himself.

39 comments:

Brazen Hussey's said...

Matthew 18:6-7

...but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

“Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!


Woe to Calvin Klein and all such marketers, for tempting the onlookers to sin.

Anyone have a millstone??

ExPatMatt said...

Wait, was Ray Comfort actually interviewed for this piece or are you just paraphrasing his latest blog post to make it look like someone has interviewed him?

Strange?

I agree that nudity (or semi-nudity) on a publicly visible billboard is inappropriate, crass and demeaning to the intelligence of the average consumer.

I disagree that sexually charged imagery like this has anything at all to do with rape. There are no studies or statistics to back this up and you might as well say that billboards advertising cars are to blame for car-jackers.

What a waste of a beach towel!


Cheers,

Fish With Trish said...

Matt,

This is from M. Sliwa's interview. If you'd like to interview Ray, her number is on there. :-)

Also a news release was also sent the other day via Christian Newswire with similar content.

Fish With Trish said...

"I disagree that sexually charged imagery like this has anything at all to do with rape."

Perhaps you should take the time and watch this (there are other parts to it...I'm sure you can figure out how to find the rest)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAHgJFPcOvY

Fish With Trish said...

Matt,

Did I mention to pay close attention to 2:45-3:28 of that video.

Brazen Hussey's said...

@ ExPatMatt:

I disagree that sexually charged imagery like this has anything at all to do with rape. There are no studies or statistics to back this up and you might as well say that billboards advertising cars are to blame for car-jackers.

Have you ever heard the testimony of "Son of Sam"? Also Ted Bundy testified to this, if I'm not mistaken: that everyone, including them, that winds up in prison for sexual crimes has a fascination and addiction with pornography.

Take it from the horse's mouth.

You can hear or watch the interview, I think, with Son of Sam on Focus on the Family's website.

ExPatMatt said...

Brazen,

And every car-jacker has driven cars and more than likely has a fascination with driving fast. Correlation does not necessarily equal causation.

All,

Look, I'm not saying that indecent imagery or pornography is great for the moral fiber and should be included in high school textbooks. Nor do I agree with the objectification of women that is so overtly demonstrated in so called 'lads magz' and TV shows.

What I'm saying is that claiming that a Calvin Klein advert is going to make somebody go out and commit rape when they wouldn't have otherwise is ridiculous.

Far more blame should be placed on courts who hand out minimal sentences for convicted rapists, thus lessening the apparent risk associated with being caught.

Even more blame should be placed on abusive parents who perpetuate cycles of sexual violence in their own households.

If someone is a rapist or a violent person then they probably have some deeply-rooted psychological issue - generally attributable to events during their childhood - that plays itself out during their adult life. That's where their fascination with sex, pornography and power (power over their victims is often more important to them than the actual act of sex)

At the end of the day, the blame rests with the person who decides to go ahead and do it.

Over at Ray's blog, Lamar presented some very comprehensive statistics regarding sexual assaults and violent crime that are actually worth understanding and discussing.

Presenting the issue in this way makes it seem like your opinion is that if we took down all the racy billboards then rape would suddenly stop. This is naive and diminishes any attempt to actually understand and address the root causes of these actions.

[I know that you're thinking that the root cause of these actions is man's sinful nature, fair enough - that's your doctrine]

Most people do not rape. Some people do. If you think the difference is that the rapists saw 'racy' billboards and magazines then you're living in a dream world because that is most certainly not the reality of things.

Also,

All sins are equally bad in the eyes of God, right? So any advertiser is equally guilty of causing temptation to sin by definition because they are making you covet things you don't have (Calvin Klein jeans, in this case) - where's your moral outrage at that? Or is lusting worse than coveting? Is rape worse than theft?

[personally I see nothing wrong with either lusting or coveting, while I see rape as being far, far worse than theft]

As Christians are you not beholden to see all these things as equally sinful?

Interesting stuff...

Anonymous said...

How is that billboard pornography?

What kind of crazy people are you?

Trish, why do you paint your hair, why do you even smile, why do you make yourself look so well, if lust is such a huge concern?

Given that, if I lusted at your images would it be your fault or mine?

Should I go and cover your hair and smile and well-kept nails with an orange towel? Otherwise some pervert might decide to rape someone in my family?

Ray is sick. You agreeing with him makes you just as sick. The problem is not the billboard. The problem is Ray.

G.E.

Larryk12309 said...

And then there's all the child pornography they say is still rampant on the internet or all the monsters that lure young children to
view pornographic web sites.

I'm not sure if I should pray these people repent ,or pray they just drop dead.

Talk about needing a millstone!

Brazen Hussey's said...

@ ExPatMatt:

The reason I brought up the testimonials is twofold:

1) The criminals in question are famous for sexual crimes.

2) The criminals in question both traced their own development as criminals to an early fascination with pornography. In the case of one of them (not sure if it was Sam or Bundy), the "pornography" was in the form of the Sears catalogue.

So, though I agree with your incredulity at the statements Ray has made, his sensitivity to the issue at hand isn't unmerited. From the sound of it, you don't condone the behavior, so why again are you arguing?

The men in question (Son of Sam and Ted Bundy) both were warning, vehemently, against pornography, and Ted in all its "softer" forms.

As to the ridiculous talk of Trish making herself attractive, that is another topic: we're discussing a lack of MODESTY.

Please, folks, do try to stay on topic and compare apples to apples. Trish putting her hair in a certain way or using makeup is one thing, posing in sexually explicit ads? Quite another.

Your red herrings are nothing more than red herrings: distractions from the topic at hand--and I'm referring to your two analogies of "car ads inducing theft" and "ads in general inducing covetousness."

These are good questions in their own right, but here serve as distractions to the issue at hand.

Does a billboard with a nearly nude person condone good or bad behavior? Does it lift up society? Does it induce my 9-year-old son to be a better man? What about my 5-year-old? What about me?

As someone who's life has been severely influenced by this sin in particular, I resent the obvious red herring arguments offered up by several atheists here. Issues like, "Where's the moral outrage against car theft, and the ads that induce them? What about fighting against covetousness?"

Honestly, if it isn't plain by the skyrocket statistics of STD's, teen pregnancies, and abortions, as well as other atrocious facts such as adultery, divorce, and the proliferation of sexual scandals in our country alone, you guys need to wake up to the fact: the sexual revolution inspired by the 60's and pornography kings Flynn and Heffner have devastated the morality of our country, and the vitality of our families.

How many car advertisements or other ads have caused that sort of devastation?

Brazen Hussey's said...

@ ExPatMatt:

When I said, "...though I agree with your incredulity at Ray's statements..." I meant to type "...though I UNDERSTAND your incredulity at Ray's statements."

I wholeheartedly agree with Ray's stance on this subject, and I'm thankful for what he stands for.

Brazen Hussey's said...

@ ExPatMatt:

BTW: I don't think the point we're trying to make is a case of post hoc ergo propter hoc.

I'm referring to your analogy that simply removing the illicit billboards would get the numbers of rape to go down. At least, that's what you claimed we Christians sounded like.

That also is not the slippery slope fallacy. The reason is, as you mentioned in passing, that at the root of these crimes is the heart of the sin, or the crimes mentioned, in seed form, begin at lust.

That is according to Jesus' words, and why He linked looking "with lust" as being "adultery."

As Christians, we take His word for it.

I just wanted to further clarify that I agree with your sentiments in large measure. Specifically, that Calvin Klein can't be blamed for rape.

Agreed. I personally have a problem with CK because they consistently advertise in a sexual manner, pushing the boundaries when they can. Same can be said for Amber Crombie and others of the sort--they push the envelope.

I am not trying to build a case that CK ought to be locked up for committing or abetting rape, however. I simply wish they would exercise the long-lost art of discretion. Trouble is: we're de-sensitized to the problem, so all of a sudden we Christians are a sole voice in the fight for our country's ethics, and we come off sounding like prudes.

I get that, honestly. I thought the same thing before I became a Christian, and I'm not paying you lip service.

As a Christian, though, with 4 daughters and 2 sons, and one more on the way: I don't like the thought of the objectifying of the human anatomy as if our sex life ought to be publicized on billboards.

Your other points as to who bears the greater burden of shame (lax court systems when it comes to rape, for instance): I couldn't agree with you more. I just wanted to recognize your thoughtfulness in this area, and not to incessantly shoot you down.

For what it's worth, anyway.

ExPatMatt said...

Cheers Brazen,

I do appreciate your even-handed response to my comments - particularly that you're even-handed whilst remaining true to your beliefs.

Ok, so I'll stay on topic and we'll ignore cars, modesty, coveting and others and focus on the lust thing. Cool.

I once wrote a letter to French Connection UK (abbreviated, by them, deliberately, to FCUK because of what it looks like). They had a line of kids clothes that included such witty captions as;

Girls T-shirt: 'Cute as FCUK'
Boys T-shirt: 'Cool as FCUK'
etc..

My letter expressed exactly the outrage that you're probably feeling right now at the thought of this being marketed at one of your girls - I was fuming (and I don't even have kids!)

The point is; standing up for decency in the advertising world (or in general) is not prudish, in my opinion. They know that contentious slogans, celebrities and sex sells (if you combine all three? Well that's just gravy), that's all that matters to them.

They don't care a fig about what this does, psychologically, to the society, they just want to sell more product and it is disgraceful to see.

To be utterly clear; I agree that 'racy' billboards and other such advertisements are a negative thing, for many reasons.


What I disagree with is the conflation of these racy billboards with the instances of rape in the US - I think that making that connection is akin to blaming TV for childhood obesity when the responsibility is really with the parents; it deflects from the actual causes and that is a dangerous thing.

You said;

"...statistics of STD's, teen pregnancies, and abortions, as well as other atrocious facts such as adultery, divorce, and the proliferation of sexual scandals...".

These are all higher in places of sexual repression. In places where the human form and sexuality is not hidden away like a dirty secret, these stats are all lower (see Lamar's stats over at AC).

Racy billboards are an insignificant contributing factor when it comes to rape or sexual violence. What they are, is an easy target.

What they are, is an opportunity for Ray to look like a crusader for purity without actually having to get his hands too dirty.

If he really wanted to do something about rape, indecency and immorality relating to sex; he'd get himself down to a women's shelter and talk to the women there to hear their stories. He'd read up on the countless studies on sociopathic behaviour and figure out what the root causes of it are - then rail against those on his blog. Instead, he picks an easy, visible target and in drawing attention to it, probably got more people to see the ad than otherwise would.

That's my problem with this whole thing; it wreaks of a publicity stunt and reads nothing like someone who genuinely wants to understand and help prevent rape.


Sorry for the ramble, this subject cuts quite close for a number of reasons.


Regards,

Doktor Benway said...

Brazen... Your comments on procuring a millstone are quite alarming. Are you considering stalking and abducting Calvin Klein, then putting your millstone around his neck and dropping him off into the Hudson, or any handy body of water that happens to be nearby?

Are you and Larryk the types who take the law into your own hands? Are you into lynching? Do you hang outside of Planned Parenthood facilities with a handgun. You are some frightening folk.

Megan said...

Oswald Spengler wrote in "Decline of the West:"

You are dying. I see in you all the characteristic stigma of decay. I can prove that your great wealth and your great poverty, your capitalism and your socialism, your wars and your revolutions, your atheism and your pessimism and your cynicism, your immorality, your broken-down marriages, your birth-control, that is bleeding you from the bottom and killing you off at the top in your brains -can prove to you that there are characteristic marks of the dying ages of ancient state-Alexandria and Greec and neurtoic Rome.

This was written in 1926.

The Calvin Ad depitction reminds me of what was going on during the fall of Rome. How do images like this become acceptable. People should be ashamed of defending such filth.

ExPatMatt said...

TFC,

I don't think that's a fair response to what Brazen has said here. If you read the comments again you'll see that a measured approach is taken to this issue despite the, clearly not-serious, reference to a metaphoric millstone.

Regards,

ExPatMatt said...

MNChad,

"The Calvin Ad depiction reminds me of what was going on during the fall of Rome".

Really? Care to expand on that thought at all?

"People should be ashamed of defending such filth".

Who, exactly, has been defending 'such filth'?

Cheers,

ExPatMatt said...

Hang on,

"Back in April 1999, ABC TV put a racy billboard of a naked woman lying on her stomach in Comfort's neighborhood in Southern California. The image had a small towel draped across her backside, to keep it legal.".

It's Cleopatra! I didn't really look too closely at it, but it's Cleopatra in the image - what did you expect her to be wearing; some loose-fitting jeans and a turtleneck? Ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

Trisha,
Thanks for getting the word out. I searched for and found a picture of the billboard on a news site. I shouldn't have been shocked, but I was. Thankfully, that ad would not be allowed where I live.

Brazen Hussey's said...

@ ExPatMatt:

Thanks for the defense, it was a pleasant thing to read.

Dispensing with the formalities (rest assured, it's more than mere formality):

It's Cleopatra! I didn't really look too closely at it, but it's Cleopatra in the image - what did you expect her to be wearing; some loose-fitting jeans and a turtleneck?

No, silly! An orange beach towel!

Or a burkha? Maybe a ninja suit--wasn't she a ninja?

What about a closeup of her eyes? She had those "bedroom eyes," didn't she?....

Megan said...

ExPatMatt said...
MNChad,

"The Calvin Ad depiction reminds me of what was going on during the fall of Rome".

Really? Care to expand on that thought at all?

Sure,

"Over time the empire would steadily decline, its corruption and lack of ethics escalating to plague levels. "Honesty and nobility of character disappeared, sexual immorality became rampant, and speaking out against excess or corruption was called treason. To squelch all evidence of resistance in their policies, Roman emperors from Nero on used the army and their personal guard as a sort of thought police to ferret out dissent and punish opponents" (Black, p. 75).

Even the moral aspects of Roman religion in its various forms, which had once helped arrest the more sinister and evil aspects of human nature, lost their power. The result was a further decline of society in general, which contributed to Rome 's eventual collapse."

The billboard is an example of the moral decline of the US. 50 years ago smoking was fine, and sexual immorality was looked down upon. Not today. Would you want to be unmarried and pregnant in the fifties? No way, you would be frowned upon. But today, hey it's great. Look at Mel Gibson and his mistress that's now pregnant. When he announced this on "The Tonight Show" he received an applause? What? In the same way there are a lot of people who think it's okay to have a billboard portraying young people participating in an orgy like activity. In times past, images like this were located in the back of magazine shops in a windowless room.

Angela Belt-Newcom said...

You know, I used to think that pornography wasn't that big of a deal. Who cares if someone watched it? It is their life and they aren't hurting anyone but themselves.

I felt that way until my ex-husband, who was addicted to pornography, molested my children. I later found out that he had exposed them to pornography as well. Which is common. Molesters do that. He would wait until they walked into the room and then pretend to accidentally put the wrong tape in the VCR. He even snuck a few of his tapes into their collection of Disney movies so they would inadvertently put them in.

Later, while my children were in counseling, I found out that kind of behavior is very common. It is all related. Just because not everyone who views pornography will go on to molest children or rape someone, doesn't mean that it has nothing to do with it. Most viewers of pornography will go on to exhibit some type of sexually deviant behavior. Even the addiction in and of itself is deviant. What they go through to watch it and hide their addiction is crazy.

You can sit here and debate it all day, but you don't know until you are faced with it and the actions of someone who is addicted to this kind of sin. Then you know. You wish you didn't, but you do.

Brazen Hussey's said...

@ Angel:

Ouch. Sorry.

I'm going to post my testimony sometime before the End of Days on Tracy Wagman's blog, but needless to say, the issue of this particular sin has had a major role in my life.

Thank God for His Son!

Fish With Trish said...

Angel, very heavy stuff. Sorry for all you've been through but I'm glad God is your focus. Blessings to you, friend.

James, I'd love to hear your testimony sometime. Feel free to share it here too if you'd like.

Brazen Hussey's said...

@ Trish:

Whoa. That would be an honor. I'll post it on Tracy's blog and let you know the address. And thanks for the invite, I feel like I need to give an acceptance speech??

(I'm terribly shallow. Sorry!)

In all seriousness, the Lord has been most amazing to me and mine. Bringing Him praise is my highest honor.

Fish With Trish said...

:-)

Doktor Benway said...

ExPatMatt...

Sorry, but he looks like a murderer and to me...

Brazen Hussey's said...

@ The False Convert:

You asked some questions which were designed to be allegations against my character. I'll be polite and really ignorant as I answer your questions in the negative.

Now, I have a few questions for you.

1) Do you defend pornographic, or otherwise illicit photographs being used as billboards in public areas? How do you defend their use, if you do?

2) Do you defend the use of pornographic or suggestive photographs to sell products? If so, by what defense?

3) Do you have an appreciation for decency in society? Why or why not? How do you define "decency"?

4) Do you know about literary devices, and how to identify their proper use in literature? In Scripture? Ever heard of "hyperbole" or "parabolic language"?

As to the business of justice for CK and others like them: I pray for justice. I ask God to take His vengeance upon the pornography industry, to wipe their trade off the face of the planet, and their stain from our culture in all its forms.

As a dad to four daughters and two sons so far, I hate what they stand for. Does that make me a murderer? Not at all. I'm simply asking God to bring His justice, it's His place to do so, not mine.

"Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good." Romans 12:9

For your sake, False Convert, I'd ask Him for His mercy and grace. "May your eyes be opened to see and behold the glory which surpasses all else, the glory of Christ crucified and risen." Something to that effect.

Angela Belt-Newcom said...

Thanks, James. I appreciate it. :)

Trish, the Lord brought me through it and I praise Him. He brought me back to Him through the Way of the Master ministry a little less than a year before it all came to light. I don't think I would have made it without God. I know I wouldn't have.

Since then, the Lord has restored everything the enemy took from me. I met a wonderful man in church and we married. We have a baby girl of our own. He is a wonderful man who loves our children deeply. He is also a godly man who loves the Lord and serves in our church as well.

We are blessed. :)

ExPatMatt said...

Angel,

I'm very sorry to hear about what you and your family went through, it's an all-too-common occurrence, it seems. I was in the position that your children were in, so I can empathize with their counseling and confusion.

I have done extensive research and reading into this subject and, as with many things, I have come to a tentative conclusion that doesn't necessarily jive with the Christian view of things (what else would you expect!)

I don't think that the issue is so much; 'is porn good/bad?' but rather; 'how should we tackle undesirable sexual behaviour?'

I think that the approach that Ray has taken here is an example of trivializing the issue in an attempt at garnering publicity. That's what I disagree with.

Kind regards,

Matt

ExPatMatt said...

MNChad,

Thanks for expanding on your 'Fall of the Roman Empire' comment.

I think we can both agree that, at the very most, sexual immorality was a product of the failing Empire and not a root cause of it. And even then, we have to understand the Roman's views on sexual morality as it was very different to our present day understanding of it.

You mentioned that there has been a moral decline in the past 50 years and cite the fact that the billboard advert would only have been found in back-room magazine stores. Is it not better to bring these things out into the light? Is transparency not a desirable thing?

At least you know it's there so you can complain about it - who knew what was going on in those back rooms! Do you think that sexual predators are an invention of the past 30-40 years? Sexual deviancy is as old as sex and the only difference nowadays is that we're more aware of it.

In fact, I'd wager that things like spousal/child abuse are less common now than they were 50 years ago purely because of visible advocacy and awareness campaigns and the like.

Not to mention the fact that smoking is now practically taboo and that must be seen as an improvement, no?

The fact remains that blaming saucy billboards for rape is a trite and overly-simplified argument that trivializes the real issue and damages the cause of understanding and preventing sexual assault - I think Ray should re-evaluate his views on this matter.

Regards,

Brazen Hussey's said...

@ ExPatMatt:

The fact remains that blaming saucy billboards for rape is a trite and overly-simplified argument that trivializes the real issue and damages the cause of understanding and preventing sexual assault - I think Ray should re-evaluate his views on this matter.

I'd say that I agree with you on a certain level except two: root cause, and plan of attack.

First, with root cause: Jesus said lusting after someone is the root of adultery, which is an umbrella term for the sexual sins. This is where the starting point differs.

From reading this and other comments of yours, you seem to want to deal with problems here as they appear in criminal form:

Stricter courts
Stricter laws/consequences

Etc.

What Jesus is teaching is vastly different, as you've noted (it's His idea, not Ray's, btw), primarily because it's wisdom that comes from God's P.O.V., literally, and secondly because it isn't reactionary: it's pro-active, hitting the tree at the root before it grows vs. dealing with the bad fruit after the tree reaches maturity.

I hope the analogy comes off as illustrative, not condescending, btw.

It seems "trivial," when in actuality it's genius: like planting grass before the weeds grow to tree size--the grass chokes and prevents the weeds. (A literal illustration from my immediate life. Weeds grow like...weeds...)

It is much easier to deal with cancer by quitting smoking and unhealthy, carcinogenic habits, than it is to get a biopsy and chemotherapy.

In like manner, it is far easier to nip the bad habit of lusting and pornography that forms into such wonderful things as rape, divorce, molestation, STD's, unwanted or unplanned pregnancy, abortion after such things occur.

Hopefully, again, the illustration serves as such.

In the meantime, Cleopatra looked far better in that orange sleeping bag, IMHO!

Anonymous said...

I emailed CK on June 22 with my compliant about the billboard. CK emailed me back on June 22 and told me in the email:

"As of 6/22/2009 the billboard you're referring to has been removed and
replaced with our latest campaign."

ExPatMatt said...

Wow Lisa,

They removed it the very day you complained; what on earth did you write in your email! ;)


Brazen,

That's quite a salad of analogies you've served up there! Let's go with smoking...

[also, I said, quite a few times, that I think that an understanding of 'root causes' was imperative and that just covering up a billboard was doing nothing for the root cause. As has been said, people will lust even wen there are no billboards, so what difference does it really make? The courts / laws are one element of enforcement but they do not prevent root causes, that's a societal thing]

A large part of the campaign against smoking was to remove advertising (at least in the UK) and that, no doubt, had some impact on people's desire for a smoke. Along with that, was an inflation of the price of a pack and laws banning smoking indoors - all these things have reduced the numbers of new smokers in the UK.

However, if you want to get someone to quit smoking, you generally have to go back and find out why they started in the first place.

Not only that, but there's a fundamental difference here. You're talking about someone thinking about smoking being just as bad as someone buying a pack of cigs and then going and lighting up in a maternity ward.

I still think that it's a stretch of idiotic proportions to conflate a lust-inducing billboard with sexual crimes. There's such a huge difference between the two.

This is losing any semblance of coherency now, so I'm just going to stop.

Cheers,

Fish With Trish said...

June 23, 2009
CK billboard ad replaced!

for more info visit onemilliondads.com or onemillionmoms.com

ExPatMatt said...

It got them some good publicity though, didn't it...

Brazen Hussey's said...

@ Lisa:

AWWWWWWWW YEAHHHHH!!!

Praise God for that, and may CK's jeans buttons all rust off and his zippers get stuck!

(sado-masochist that I am...)

Lissie Darcy said...

Go Mr. Ray Comfort!!!!!!!!

As far as us Christian girls--we need to be a good witness to the rest of the world by being Modest not only in attire, but in speech and actions as well!


In Christ,

Lissie

Thewayevangelism said...

I'm glad it was removed! Sad that some actually think we are weird for not agreeing with Half Naked Teenagers on billboards..Proof of what is yet to come brother's and sister's. ..Persecution has already begun and we(believers) are looked at as fanatics and dangerous..God bless..