Toronto, ON, Canada – Local10 News reported Nov 18 that Squirt.org’s “Non-Stop Hookups” bus advertisement campaign had stirred up the local community in Miami, Fla. The ad, a promotion for the Squirt gay dating site, shows two shirtless men embracing along with the site’s tagline, “Hot ’n horny hookups,” and the campaign slogan, “Non-Stop Hookups.” The ads were placed near popular gay clubs and establishments in Miami, including Eros Lounge, Magnum Lounge, The Dugout, Club Azucar and Club Aqua Miami. The ad’s creative content went through the usual rigorous approval process.
The report says a mother complained to the City of Miami about the ad. Soon after the ad went live, Pink Triangle Press (PTP), the operator of Squirt.org, was informed about the complaint and asked to provide updated creative without the tagline “Hot ’n Horny Hookups” and the words “Non-Stop Hookups.” PTP provided an updated version and the new creative was approved. Meanwhile, the ad was vandalized, stolen and never replaced by the City of Miami.
“We always work very closely with our ad reps and locations when it comes to creative approval,” says Attila Szatmari, digital business director at PTP. “Our creative was approved, and we just want to have the same treatment as any straight sexy ad would have. Lots of straight-themed ads are as sexy as ours: look at Step up revolution, Tom Ford, Michael Kors, Guess, Viktor & Rolf and Calvin Klein ads. If these ads can be on streets across America, we don’t understand why two men embracing cannot.”
When Squirt.org asked when the updated creative would go live, its ad distributor replied that the case had become “too political” for the City of Miami to touch.
PTP has started a petition against the City of Miami on change.org to have the ad reinstated and invites everybody to express their opinion about the matter via social media under #adequality.
This ad is in poor taste and promotes a site that actively, itself, promotes promiscuity. This isn’t a site for dating and relationships. It’s a “hook up” site. It’s every bit as inappropriate in a public setting as some straight site that would promote the same sort of activity.