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"The Catch" - Venereal Disease themed campaing for Virgin Mobile Canada
Following yesterday's post on Virgin Mobile's 'Pee Strip' magazine Insert - part of a venereal disease themed marketing campaign for the launch of it's Canadian mobile phone service, Virgin is in the news again for offending nurses and demeaning their profession. "The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario is demanding a public apology from Richard Branson, founder of the U.K.-based Virgin Group. The 21,000-member association also wants the company to immediately cease its advertising campaign", according to the Toronto Star. The "nurses" were bleach-blonde models wearing white stilettos and short skirts. Life-size cutouts of these nurses began appearing this week in shopping malls and other retail outlets that are selling Virgin Mobile phones. The medical theme is part of the broader marketing campaign that is comparing phone plans from rival service providers Bell Mobility, Telus Mobility and Rogers Wireless to a fictitious venereal disease called "The Catch" "Maximizes your pleasure," reads one print advertisement, showing a nurse holding a bottle of pills meant to cure the "catch." Mark Quigley, a telecom analyst and managing director for the Yankee Group in Canada, said the controversy will help Virgin Mobile increase its exposure in Ontario and is unlikely to offend its target audience — mostly teenagers and young adults." |
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