German Transport Ministry gets dressed down after releasing ‘naked’ bike safety ad

An ad campaign launched by the German Transport Ministry which features half-naked models wearing bike helmets has been panned by politicians – and of course, the internet – as childish and offensive.

The photo of scantily clad young men and women, all donning safety helmets, is accompanied by the tagline: “Looks like s**t, but saves my life.” Created by the Transport Ministry, the campaign, which will be unveiled in cities across Germany this week, was designed to promote safer cycling habits among the country’s youth. Not everyone found the message clever, however.

The deputy leader of the SPD’s parliamentary group for women, Katja Mast, called the campaign “embarrassing, stale and sexist,” while speaking with local press on Saturday, DW reported. The outlet also cited comments made by Maria Noichl, the chairperson of the Working Group of Social Democratic Women (ASF), who lambasted the Transport Ministry.

“It is embarrassing, stupid and sexist for the transport minister to be selling his policies using naked skin,” she said, adding that the posters “must come down.”

Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer even found himself under fire from a fellow minister.

Posting a photo of herself in business attire with her bicycle on Facebook, Family Minister Franziska Giffey declared: “Dear Andreas Scheuer: fully dressed also goes well with a helmet!”

On social media, the ad inspired a new hashtag, #lookslikeshit, dedicated to providing constructive criticism to the German government.

“Hard to know what was going through their heads when they came up with this ad campaign. Maybe they have hit their own heads once too many times,” the Australian Cycle Alliance wrote.

Anger over the ad was far from unanimous, however, with some netizens openly mocking the outrage over the public service announcement.

“How sexist! The man is topless, why is the woman forced to wear a shirt?” one Twitter user joked.

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