TORONTO STAR REFUSES TO RUN AD
By Adnews Staff
The Toronto Star has refused to run an ad that offered a free condom with the purchase of a duvet from Down Under of Toronto. The ad was designed by Big Black Hat Inc. Advertising of Toronto and would have appeared in The Star's Starweek magazine. In a letter to Big Black Hat dated Aug. 9, the Star's group advertising director James McManus said he and the newspaper's senior management decided the ad bordered on the lines of poor taste and that as a "family newspaper", they had to constantly be aware of such ads. The headline for the ads says, "Back to School Special. Free Condom With Every Duvet." The ad goes on to say "College shouldn't be all work and no fun. Sooner or later, you're going to christen that brand-new soft, luxuriant duvet. So in the interests of public safety, we're giving away a free Trojan Brand Thin Condom with every duvet purchased before Sept. 1. One per customer, so use it wisely." Big Black Hat spokesperson Michael Moss told Adnews yesterday that the ad will appear in a longer format in Toronto's NOW magazine this week, and perhaps The Globe and Mail's Broadcast Week magazine in two weeks. Big Black Hat would like The Star "to either distribute advertising guidelines or publish any ads that doesn't break any laws," Moss said.