Boner Candidate #1: WE DIDN’T MEAN TO HURT ANYONE.
A German skincare company has been forced to rethink an advertising campaign following accusations of racism—again. An ad for Nivea’s Invisible For Black & White deodorant with the tagline “white is purity” was posted to the company’s Middle East Facebook page earlier this week, the New York Times reports. The backlash on social media was swift. “This is so racist that I do not even know where to begin,” CNN quotes one typical response on Twitter. But the controversial ad wasn’t unpopular with everyone. Racists and white supremacists on 4Chan and Twitter celebrated it as proof that Nivea was on their side. Nivea deleted the ad on Tuesday, with a spokesperson saying the company believes in diversity and is “deeply sorry to anyone who may take offense to this specific post,” the BBC reports. A representative for Beiersdorf, Nivea’s parent company, says the intent of the campaign was to portray the colors white as purity and black as strength; they didn’t mean to “hurt anybody.” Nivea has been here before. Back in 2011, the company ran an ad that showed a black man holding a black mannequin’s Afro with the tagline “re-civilize yourself.” In its apology for that ad, Nivea called it “inappropriate and offensive.”
Boner Candidate #2: THE ZOO IS REALLY AN ABORTION SANCTUARY.
Can you imagine hating something so much that you think, our only option is to involve the zoo animals? I understand that zoo animals don’t care about politics because they don’t understand them. I also can infer that they wouldn’t care even if they could understand them, because zoo animals are prisoners without rights or the hope of parole. But Missouri State Sen. Bob Onder—a trained allergist—doesn’t have my level of empathy. He has been so upset about a recent anti-discrimination ordinance which would ban employers and landlords in his home city of St. Louis from discriminating against women who have had an abortion, use contraceptives, or who are pregnant that he decided to disrupt a hearing about the zoo. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that during debate on the Senate floor about whether or not the St. Louis Zoo should receive more tax revenue to put towards conservation, infrastructure, and breeding programs, Onder proposed an amendment requiring the zoo to rename itself “The Midwest Abortion Sanctuary City Zoological Park.” “It’s beautiful,” he reportedly said. “Hey, you come to us asking for the tax authorization, we might put some conditions on it, okay?” Zoo representatives and supporters were sweetly baffled. “All I want is to give the people in the greater St. Louis area an opportunity to have their voices heard at the ballot box in support of the St. Louis Zoo, an attraction that strengthens our economy and is a point of pride for the region,” said bill sponsor State Sen. Gina Walsh. “We believe that this amendment does not reflect the senator’s regard for the Zoo,” said Zoo Association president Joseph T. Ambrose in a statement.Onder, who is loudly anti-abortion, is the sponsor of a bill, dubbed the “Women’s Health and Clinic Safety Act” that, among other things, bans the donation of fetal tissue and would protect employees that handle aborted tissue who “disclose information concerning alleged violations of applicable federal or state laws or administrative rules concerning the handling of fetal organs or tissue.” In 2016, he sponsored SJR 39, which would legally protect businesses that denied services to same-sex couples if it violated the business’s “sincere religious belief.” He endorsed chaste soup goon Ted Cruz for president. He also, I want to note, went to medical school and chose to specialize in allergies. No disrespect to allergists, but that seems hella boring and lame!
Boner Candidate #3: SOME PEOPLE JUST DON’T BELONG IN A SWIMSUIT.
Come for every woman’s right to wear a swimsuit, and you’d best prepare to feel wrath as hot as the beach. Dana Duggan, a swimwear designer from Massachusetts who believes Amy Schumer shouldn’t wear a bathing suit, was dragged by a handful of wise women after she shared this opinion in the comments section of InStyle’s Instagram account. The magazine posted a photo of its May “beauty issue” cover, which features Schumer looking great in a white Ralph Lauren one-piece. “Come on now!” Duggan wrote under the account of her South Shore Swimwear brand. “You could not find anyone better for this cover? Not everyone should be in a swimsuit.” Oh, Ms. Duggan. Where to begin? Naturally, some of the mag’s followers were quick to clap back. One reminded Duggan that “swimwear is not just for women who are a size 2! She is a real woman with a real body. Bravo to @instylemagazine for showcasing her. She looks beautiful.”Another commenter wrote she feels sorry for anyone who dislikes the cover, as well as “all the other people you judge and shame for their bodies.” Duggan stood by her tone-deaf opinion in the comments, citing “freedom of speech” and adding that Schumer looks “like a pig.” Duggan started her swimwear business in the late 1990s, according to a 2012 profile in the Quincy, Massachusetts Patriot Ledger. Her Facebook page says her business is by appointment only, though it is not currently accepting appointments. As recently as 2015, she was sharing swimwear shopping advice for women with different body types in Boston magazine. Shocked that a swimwear designer would balk at any woman wearing a bathing suit ― much less a size 6-8 woman like Schumer ― we reached out to Duggan. As she requested we include that “The Huffington Post is the biggest piece of crap publication out there,” she stood by her words. “I appreciate the free press. It’s called Freedom of Speech,” she said. “I can have my opinion and you can have yours. I’m tired of the media and publications trying to push the FAT agenda. It’s not healthy and it’s not pretty. What is wrong with featuring healthy and fit cover models?”
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