Lingerie Ads Nixed Due to Plus-Sized Model?

Lane Bryant, citing Victoria's Secret ads that have aired, charges double-standard by nets that claim its spots too racy.

April 24, 2010

(CBS) A plus-sized controversy is flaring over the initial refusal by ABC and Fox to run an ad for lingerie from Lane Bryant, the maker of clothes for plus-sized women.

The ad features plus-sized model Ashley Graham.

At first, ABC wouldn't air it on "Dancing with the Stars," and Fox refused to show it on "American Idol."

Now, both are apparently going to broadcast it -- but only during the later portions of the shows, outside the time considered too early to run racy material.

Charges, counter-charges and denials have been flying in all directions, with Lane Bryant claiming that a double standard is being applied, since commercials for Victoria's Secret (featuring thinner models in similarly skimpy attire) do run in earlier time slots.

On "The Early Show on Saturday Morning," Graham said it all smacks of discrimination against plus-sized women.

"It's actually sad" that the Lane Bryant ads will run, but not until the so-called Family Hour is over, she told co-anchor Chris Wragge. "I know there's plenty of women my size watching 'American Idol,' watching 'Dancing with the Stars' who would love to see what they look like on the television screen. And I feel bad for the plus-women out there who can't see that, and that has to be, like, part of a discrimination."

Graham observed that, "Victoria's Secret commercials are airing all throughout the day, but when it comes to a Lane Bryant commercial, we have a little bit of extra, you know, overflowing, and then everybody freaks out."

Does she think it was because "there's too much of you?" Wragge asked.

"I think so," Graham replied.

Wragge wondered if the content of the ad, in which Ashley is seen scheduling a rendezvous with "Dan," might have been inappropriate: "You're texting your boyfriend in your underwear. Do you think maybe there was a more underlying message that they wanted to stay away from?"

"I don't think so," Graham responded, "considering that the Victoria's Secret models flaunt around and dance around wearing basically nothing, and then for me just to be getting ready to go see my boyfriend in my lingerie, I don't see much difference between the two stories."

Graham said it never entered her mind her ad would cause such a dustup.

"Oh, my goodness!," she exclaimed. "I was so honored to be part of the commercial, to represent women of my size, that we can be confident and sexy in our lingerie, and to have it on television."

The flap over the ad is "actually hilarious to me, considering all the press that plus girls have been getting lately. We've been naked in all different kinds of magazines. I'm naked in Oprah magazine this month. And this is a much bigger story than that?. It's very shocking to me."

Could it be Lane Bryant knew what would transpire and did the ad for the attention?

"It's great for Lane Bryant," Graham says. "I don't think they were using me, per se, to make it a publicity stunt, but I think that this is great for them. But I don't think there was a publicity stunt."

So no ulterior motive on Lane Bryant's part?

"I have no idea," Graham answered. "I haven't actually asked that."

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ABC released this statement about Lane Bryant:

"Their statements are not true. The ad was accepted to run in "Dancing With the Stars." Lane Bryant was treated absolutely no differently than any advertiser for the same product. We were willing to accommodate them, but they chose to seek publicity instead."

Fox Entertainment released this statement

"Lane Bryant submitted the lingerie ad for the 8 PM hour of "American Idol." Because the 8 p.m. hour is considered "family hour," we requested they make some edits. Lane Bryant refused and they didn't want to change the ad. We did agree to run the ad on the 9PM hour. Fox has scheduled to run the ad this Wednesday, April 28th during the 9 p.m. hour."

Lane Bryant released this news release:

Lane Bryant released a memorandum from ABC, Inc. rejecting its Cacique ad from a number of programs including Dancing With The Stars.

The memo dated April 9, 2010 said, "UPON APPROVAL, THIS COMMERCIAL IS RESTRICTED FROM THE FOLLOWING PROGRAMMING/TIME PERIODS (ET): Post 9 PM: Extreme Makeover, Home Edition and Wipeout, Animated Wonderful World of Disney, Wonderful World of Disney, Dancing With the Stars, America's Funniest Videos, Game Shows."

"ABC's statement that 'Lane Bryant was treated absolutely no differently than any advertiser for the same product' is simply not true. It was only after we got the rejection and raised the fact that they were operating under a double standard that they reluctantly agreed to put us in the last pod of the program. The Victoria Secret ads, which had aired on Dancing With The Stars prior to the date our ad was rejected were not subject to the same restrictions. We have records of their ads airing in earlier time slots," a Lane Bryant spokesman said.

"There was absolutely no rationale for us to be relegated to the back of the bus, when our ads were no more risqué than those of Victoria Secret. The only difference is the size of our models. We would have expected better from a company owned by Disney," the spokesman for Lane Bryant added.

Bisexual Men Claim Bias for Disqualification at Gay Softball World Series

By Doug Stanglin, USA Today

Apr 21, 2010

Three bisexual men have sued a national gay-athletic organization for discrimination for disqualifying their team at the 2008 Gay Softball World Series team by deeming the three not gay enough to participate, The Seattle Times reports.

The lawsuit filed in Seattle Tuesday by the three Bay Area men accuses the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance of violating Washington state law barring discrimination.

An attorney for the alliance denies the allegations, the paper says.

The three plaintiffs played on a team called D2 that qualified for the 2008 competition, which stipulates that each team can have no more than two heterosexual players.

After a competing team complained, the lawsuit says, the alliance ruled the three bisexual men were "nongay" and stripped D2 of it second-place finish, The Times says.

The Seattle Weekly reports that the dispute erupted in the middle of the championship game and that play was stopped several times because of the protests.

After the game, the plaintiffs charge, they were grilled in front of some 25 people as to their sexual attractions and desires, purportedly to determine their gayness.

At one point, the lawsuit alleges, one of the plaintiffs was told: "This is the Gay World Series, not the Bisexual World Series."

The men are seeking $75,000 for emotional distress and also want D2's second-place finish reinstated, The Times says.

Clarification and correction at 4:01 p.m. ET: A reader wrote in the say that the headline and story in the original posting was inaccurate because the three were not kicked off the team. That's a fair point. Here's what happened, according to the complaint by the Plaintiffs. At the time of the incident, the legaue's Protest Committee recommended that the plaintiffs be suspended for a minimum of one year from participation in world series and NAGAAA Open Divisions events. Then, in January, the NAGAAA decided to withdraw the suspension. The phrase "kicked off" was perhaps too sharp a description, especially since that the committee's statement was a recommendation -- and even that was not carried out by the national organization. I have adjusted the story and headline accordingly.

One other point: Some comments have pointed to the reference to the 25 people who observed the grilling of the three men and inferred that that was the size of the crowd watching the game. That is wrong. The incident took place after the game was over and was carried out in a conference room. It is not totally clear who the 25 people were, but it did include, among other, members of the Protest Committee and, presumably, other members of the team. In any case, I find no record as to how many people were in stands to watch the game itself.