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OFFBE

Coke condemned a second time for ‘sexist’ ads

An admittedly “boorish” Coca-Cola web advertisement for its Zero drink has been scolded by Sweden’s sexist ad watchdog for portraying women as “pure sex objects”.

The internet advertisement features a fictional female character which the beverage giant argued was simply “dressed in jeans and a top in line with accepted fashion”.

But what offended the person who filed the complaint was the fact that, if a number of questions posed on the website are answered in a certain way, the woman is suddenly standing near a bed wearing only a bra and panties.

While Coca-Cola chose not to comment on that specific aspect of the internet ad campaign, it explained that the website was supposed to create an image of how life should be.

According to the complaint, Coke’s imaginary, worry-free life was therefore about sex without foreplay.

The company countered, however, that it was trying to portray a world in which the weekends never end.

Coke admits that the Zero website is “boorish in tone” but denies that it is at all insulting. Rather “the woman is portrayed as a self-reliant person with an obvious right to place demands in her relationships,” according to the soft drink maker.

But ERK viewed the advert differently, finding it insulting to women in general. In addition, the ad was guilty of preserving outdated views on gender roles and humiliating for both women and men, according to ERK.

And the new reprimand for gender discrimination isn’t the first for a Coke Zero ad campaign in Sweden.

In December, ERK ruled against an ad featuring a guy breaking up with his girlfriend who says she understands because “there are so many girls to choose from”.

The man then leaves the restaurant in the company of four scantily clad women.

The original offender: Coke Zero spot

SPORT

Norwegians give short shrift to fine for women’s handball team

Norwegian officials reacted sharply on Tuesday after the country's women's beach handball team was fined for wearing shorts instead of bikini bottoms in competition.

Norwegians give short shrift to fine for women's handball team
Norway's Stine Ruscetta Skogrand (L) vies with Montenegro's Vukcevic Nikolina (C) and Ema Ramusovic (R) during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics women's qualifying handball match between Montenegro and Norway in Podgorica on March 19, 2021. (Photo by SAVO PRELEVIC / AFP)

The Disciplinary Committee of the European Handball Federation (EHF) on Monday fined the Norway 1,500 euros ($1,768), or 150 euros per player, after they wore shorts in their bronze-medal match loss to Spain at the European Beach Handball Championship in Varna, Bulgaria, on Sunday.

“In 2021, it shouldn’t even be an issue,” the president of the Norwegian Volleyball Federation, Eirik Sordahl, told national news agency NTB.

Clothing has long been an issue in beach sports, with some women players finding bikinis degrading or impractical.

While bikinis have not been compulsory for beach volleyball players since 2012, International Handball Federation (IHF) rules state “female athletes must wear bikini bottoms” and that these must have “a close fit”, be “cut on an upward angle toward the top of the leg” and a side depth of no more than 10 centimetres.

Male players wear shorts.

READ MORE: Norwegian female beach handballers scrap bikini in spite of rules

“It’s completely ridiculous,” Norway’s Minister for Culture and Sports, Abid Raja, tweeted after Monday’s ruling. “What a change of attitude is needed in the macho and conservative international world of sport.”

Ahead of the tournament, Norway asked the EHF for permission to play in shorts, but were told that breaches of the rules were punishable by fines.

They complied, until their last match.

“The EHF is committed to bring this topic forward in the interest of its member federations, however it must also be said that a change of the rules can only happen at IHF level,” EHF spokesman Andrew Barringer said in an email.

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