By Crikey reporter Jane Nethercote

The letters page in today’s BOSS magazine in the AFR reveals a controversy that seems to have been brewing since last month’s edition.

“We upset some readers last month with our decision to allow into the
magazine a stitched insert in the format of a poster, which featured a
mature woman in lingerie,” writes editor Helen Trinca. The
advertisement – for Sydney ad agency The One Centre – “was attacked as sexist and ageist by some readers who were disappointed that it had appeared in AFR BOSS, especially in the annual Leaders List special. We hear you!” The ad ran with the tag: “Old models don’t cut it anymore.”

It’s
so offensive on so many levels that I find it difficult to know where
to start, wrote Rebecca Irish. “Using lingerie-clad models to advertise
any product (other than lingerie) is something that I might expect to
find in FHM or Ralph, but not BOSS.”

Trinca
tells Crikey she didn’t anticipate this kind of response. When it came across
her desk, she says she “didn’t think it objectified women,” and
initially “I wasn’t offended by it.”

“I thought it was a
confronting image and to be honest I wasn’t quite sure what I was
supposed to think about it.” After all, when younger women appear in
lingerie no-one normally bats an eyelid. And the older model was
“looking pretty fabulous,” says Trinca. So should only people up
to the age of 35 be “allowed to bare their bodies” she wonders. Should
we ban “all older women from a sexual existence?”

She says BOSS draws
a “very clear line between editorial and advertising.” And in her five
years on the job she can’t remember censoring an ad in similar
circumstances – although she does note that the magazine’s parent, the Fin Review, has a policy against running Viagra ads.

Does
she see the ad in a different light now? Absolutely. And would she
think twice about running a similar ad in the future? It’s certainly
made me more aware of readers’ emotions and “I’ve taken on board the
fact that my readers are offended by it,” she says.

Your centrefold beggars belief, wrote Liz De Morgan in her letter to BOSS.
“One would have thought an old guy with hanging what-nots would have
been more appropriate. Or do they not get traded in for younger models?”

It’s an interesting point. And in fact the wider campaign
does feature both older male and female models. Viewed in this context,
the ads are still provocative, but in a more even-handed way (and the
models, especially Dolores, are rather glam).

So why did The One Centre choose to focus in on the female model for its BOSS campaign?
Was this a calculated decision? Did the agency expect more controversy
to flow from this choice? Founder and CEO John Ford was in a board
meeting this morning and unable to comment.