
Canada's largest specialty Runner's Shop, "Running Free" - is under fire and for good reason - it's best summed up by the blog
Adland and I will let them take the stage, "Back in
Noverber ad agency
DDB Canada approached Nick Capra, co-owner of Running Free, a Markham, Ont. athletic apparel store, with an offer to do a pro
bono ad campaign - meaning they figured that they had an awesome idea they really wanted to do. The idea was to show what happens when us girls don't have a decent running bra, portraits of women with black eyes and broken noses and the line “Support bras, now available.” Nick Capra didn't like the ads, but sought the opinions of his co-workers anyway: “I do things by consensus, so I showed them to everybody at the shop and they all had the same reaction, which was quite negative...They looked like a domestic violence campaign.” Capra then told
DDB he didn't want to use them, and that was that, right? Wrong. However, according to Andrew Simon, senior vice-president and creative director at
DDB’s Toronto office, Capra gave the agency the go-ahead in writing to produce the ads, though Simon declined to show the Marketing copy of Capra’s approval. But the ads were sent to
adblogs and have thus cause quite a stir on the net, so finally Capra has posted a statement on Running Free’s website calling the ads a “hoax,” “tasteless and offensive” and saying he never authorized the use of the company logo.
DDB now wants to apologise and are asking all
adbloggers to take the ads down. [END] There's a pretty good discussion on this going on at
Feministing.com and a news report claiming Capra gave the green light on exploring this is
here. My comments: Think about it, people that have some measure of education, general awareness of the world, culture, etc. not only came up with this, but ran it up the flag pole thinking they had a "winner" on their hands. What are the only words available to characterize their thinking ? I don't like characterizing people as "ignorant" or "dumb" - however unfortun

ately there are
times & people responsible for things so plainly offensive....the shoe fits, this is one of those times. It makes me want to scream....just as I am screaming about Tony Reed & the National Black Marathoners Association and their logo & slogan:
1865:Free To Run. I know, I said I would not but I had to illustrate this analogy. Tony Reed and the Black Marathoners are out of Texas, a state where 27 Jim Crow Laws were passed up through 1958. It's a fact Black people like Tony Reed & his members were not "Free To Run" in State Parks in Texas (and hundreds of city parks): It was a violation of law Texas put on the books in 1950 (at best you were arrested, at worse lynched -people were both). If you do not see ignorance & offense in
DDB Canada/Running Free/Nick Capra/Tony Reed/Black Marathoners - something is wrong with you. Have a great day!