SL, Lindex, English And Women's Underwear

Well, I didn't want to get involved with this whole nonsense, but after a week I feel obligated to sound off about SL and Lindex in regards to Lindex's rather boring new advertising campaign which is currently going on in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Germany.

Here we go people, if you are not aware already of this battle of standards, freedom of expression, and juvenile vocabularies, allow me to give you a brief overview. The Swedish underwear company Lindex, which has a 95% female staff, recently had their latest ad campaign rejected by SL (the Stockholm public transportation authority.) Well, it wasn't blocked exactly it was denied. Lindex was given an ultimatum - remove the words from your ad or we won't allow them on the subways, busses or anywhere on our property, such as subway, train and bus stations etc. Lindex did as they suggested and removed the text from about 500 different posters. The posters with the words can be seen everywhere else, just not within the SL network.

SO, what was the big deal. The big deal was that Lindex, for some reason that is beyond my realm of thinking, decided that a good idea for an ad campaign in Sweden would be to first have a series of adverts featuring ladies wearing panties with the words, yes in English, "We love bottoms!" (exclamation point theirs). They would then (now) follow it up with a second series of adverts featuring women in bras with the words, "We love boobs!" (exclamation point theirs) on them. This is were SL's press officer said:

Which groups of society would be upset was never pinpointed. I assume they mean people with standards and a level of maturity higher than that of a 14 year old. The statement was backed up with:

Bravo, SL, bravo. I take back all the things I said about you around Christmas.

That is all the information you need to know. From what you have now read you must make your decision in regards to whom you believe to be right or wrong. Is SL being a bit too intolerant? Is Lindex being a bit immature? Is anyone actually going to be seriously offended? And perhaps most importantly... Why on earth are these advertisements in English?

Where to start... In my opinion, as a gentleman, married man, son, son-in-law, and friend of numerous ladies, I'm going to have to say that Lindex has chosen a very childish ad campaign. I know there are people out there who are going to disagree, some of them already have, but I really don't see the word "boobs" as the type of thing you print up and hang all over the place. (Christ, I don't even like typing it, not because I'm some prudish puritan, but because it's lowering my sense of dignity when it comes to using educated English.)

As a company they are allowed to run whatever kind of ad campaign they want. They sure as hell don't need a vote and formal poll of approval to do it. They aren't the first with a tasteless advertising scheme, and they won't be the last. However, some people don't find it tasteless at all. Some people find it completely acceptable. Swedes for the most part don't see anything wrong with it in general and have something of a difficult time understanding why on earth SL is all of a sudden acting like the "American media". (Their words, not mine). They feel that Sweden's comfortable attitude with human sexuality and the naked body is in jeopardy. However, they seem to be completely forgetting the fact that the large image of a woman only in underwear is now less obscured by useless words. That's what it all boils down to, the wording, not the message. People seem to be unable to grasp that.

Could they have avoided this by using a different word? Why did they choose that particular word? Well, when asked about that Ulrika Danielson, spokesperson for Lindex, said, "It is a softer word that is in stark contrast to the more clinical breast." Once again one must question the English. One must also question the relation the people behind this campaign have with the English language...more on that later.

As for SL, they have had a number of problems in the past regarding materials being considered "upsetting". Last summer they had a rather rude awakening when thousands of summer time tables were deemed to be mildly child-pornographic. Complaints were filed, and SL looked rather like a bunch of idiots because they actually said that they hadn't looked at the finished product before it went to press. All were withdrawn and reprinted at the cost of a few million kronor. So maybe they have a reason to be a bit cautious.

However, that argument doesn't really hold up. The city of Stockholm, and the transportation system in particular, has a long standing history of scantily clad women posing in advertisements. And as stated SL have no problem displaying the imagery without the words. So, what does SL have against the word "boobs"? And why do they think people will be offended? I don't actually know. But, I'm going to tell you why I hope they said what they did.

I hope they said it because they feel as though it doesn't reflect a professional appearance. Or because they are aware that people of all ages ride the bus and maybe they are actually intelligent enough to realize that people of an impressionable age don't need to be subjected to the use of English slang pertaining to a particular part of a woman's anatomy. And maybe, just maybe, they actually thought about the fact that people like me would look at them and say, "What in the...? Who are the ad wizards behind that stupidity?" And by that I mean, people who have a rather thorough understanding of the English language and get offended, not by a woman with practically no clothes on, but by examples of poor taste when using English in Swedish advertising. I hope this is somewhere along the lines of what SL was thinking. If it is then I congratulate them and I really hope they set an example. Because the last thing this country needs is yet another English expression to be incorrectly deemed acceptable and misused by people who don't know better.

Don't get me wrong. People in Sweden are some of the best in the world when it comes to speaking English as a second language. However that in itself can be a hazard. When you have a good grasp of the language, the grammar, and the vocabulary it is very easy to insert new terms into it. And Sweden is good at importing new words. They come from the vast amount of American and British television. (And by that I mean everything that you can get in America and Britain, not just Friends and The Simpsons, and nothing is censored or dubbed.) They also come from movies, the majority of which are in English. Music, the majority of which is sung in English. As well as all of the advertising in English, the books in English, the people who live here who speak English, and of course from going abroad. The only problem with all of this vocabulary is that there is one very important thing missing.

If you've ever been in a country where you don't know the language you'll know what I'm talking about. What is the first thing they teach you? The swear words. What do they mean to you when you say them? Nothing. What do they mean to the waitress that you just ordered a beer from by saying, "I would like another fucking, please?" Probably a bit more. The thing is, once you know what they mean they still don't really mean anything to you. At least not until you've offended enough locals, been slapped a few times, and made small children cry. And there in lies the important thing here in Sweden, true, fully realized and comprehended meaning behind the weight of certain words in English. The ability to realize that just because some guy says it in a movie doesn't mean you can go around using it around anyone who speaks English. Or write it in the paper. Or use it as part of your Swedish vocabulary. (I covered the obvious here.)

To the average Swede the word "boobs" doesn't mean anything. They know what it means, but they wouldn't ever deem it as offensive. And it isn't. But it is childish if you use it publicly in formal conversation. Knowing that is the type of thing that requires a broader understanding of a language, and the unwritten rules within it. (I don't profess to have totally accomplished this with Swedish.) And all of this goes doubly for people like advertisers, translators, copywriters and anyone who is responsible for exposing a large number of people to their interpretation of English. Because they are ultimately the ones who will be deciding what is "fair game" when it comes to communicating in that language. And they must consider everyone, not just their target audience, but anyone of any age who reads what they have written. In this case Lindex judged that the word "boobs" was a word that would be understood and fully grasped by everyone who sees it, regardless of their maturity and level of English. The problem with that as I see it is that not enough people will. If it was in an English speaking country they would, kids would snicker, 15 year olds would steal the posters, women would roll their eyes and men would stare confusedly. Is that the type of English Lindex wants to get across to people? If not, then they shouldn't use English in the first place.

K. Panda