Bus ads: Read a book, get oral sex

dr. what · Post by **dr. what** » 2004-11-05 04:34pm

link

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- New York officials were red-faced on Friday after they discovered that clothing ads on city buses that appeared to promote reading suggested a love of books could be rewarded with oral sex.

The advertisements that ran on about 200 buses across the city in recent months carried posters displaying a suggestively posed woman in hot pants kneeling among a pile of books beside the snappy slogan "Read Books, Get Brain."

What unhip, unsuspecting local transportation officials did not know was that "get brain" is street slang for oral sex.

The ads -- from hip-hop clothing maker Akademiks, which intended the double-entendre -- was stripped off New York buses on Friday after transportation officials discovered the street slang meaning.

Metropolitan Transit Authority spokesman Tom Kelly condemned the "vulgar street phrases" in the racy ads he said were "demeaning women."

"To me and I believe to everyone else, while it was done by a clothing line, it would give the impression that it was also promoting reading and literacy," Kelly told Reuters.

"It's easy enough to understand how that would get by based upon someone not knowing the expression."

A spokesman for the New York-based clothing maker noted the ad campaign had run since September and "we hadn't had any complaints at all."

Hidden meaning
New York officials may not be the only ones caught out.

Akademiks also placed the ads on buses and bus shelters in Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, San Francisco and Philadelphia, the company spokesman said.

Kelly, who said he was his 60s, said that after he was tipped to the hidden meaning of the phrase on Thursday he ran a test among some young MTA workers.

"I went downstairs to the mailroom and showed some of the young guys a copy of the ad," he said. "I was watching their faces and they all start smirking.

"Apparently it's on all the music, in music that's how they refer to it," Kelly said. "I didn't know anything about it and I'm sure the people that approved the ad didn't."

Kelly said it was sad that "you can't take things at face value any longer," adding, "We'll have to learn from experience before we accept ads."

The ads followed another recent advertising controversy at the MTA. A poster commissioned to mark the 100th anniversary of the subway was found to contain numerous plugs placed by its designer for the Church of Scientology.

Post by **fgalkin** » 2004-11-05 05:25pm

But if you impress chicks with your knowledge, you may get a bj, so the ad is true.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2004-11-05 05:26pm

hehe. . . thats pretty funny. . .

Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba · Post by **Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba** » 2004-11-05 08:33pm

Read books... Stay home... Never speak to women... Damn, Books suck hard!

Marksist · Post by **Marksist** » 2004-11-06 02:43am

What unhip, unsuspecting local transportation officials did not know was that "get brain" is street slang for oral sex.

I have never in my life heard the phrase "get brain."

Post by **Dalton** » 2004-11-06 02:51am

This is a bit of street slang I have not come across.

I saw a tease for this story earlier, wondered what it was.

Pcm979 · Post by **Pcm979** » 2004-11-06 03:14am

Gosh, count me among the 'unhip'.

moku · Post by **moku** » 2004-11-06 04:14am

Must be a street slang amoung a community of 500 teens or something like that. Quite funny though.

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » 2004-11-06 04:29am

Count me among those that have never heard of it, but take into account that I generally make a point of not knowing these things.

Lancer · Post by **Lancer** » 2004-11-06 04:39am

Marksist wrote:
What unhip, unsuspecting local transportation officials did not know was that "get brain" is street slang for oral sex.
I have never in my life heard the phrase "get brain."

I've heard & said "brained" before, but that either referred to getting drunk, or getting smashed in the back of the head, depending on who I was talking to.

Faqa · Post by **Faqa** » 2004-11-06 07:22am

Well, all hail the decency Gestapo for getting another dangerous threat to the Republic removed, I guess.

Heh, though that IS pretty funny...

Zac Naloen · Post by **Zac Naloen** » 2004-11-06 08:01am

erm... isn't the phrase "get head"

get brained makes no sense... stupid kids.

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2004-11-06 08:03am

Zac Naloen wrote:erm... isn't the phrase "get head"

get brained makes no sense... stupid kids.

What do most teenages think with? I think it's quite clever.

Kamakazie Sith · Post by **Kamakazie Sith** » 2004-11-06 08:21am

I've never heard the phrase "get brain" either. I think he made it up because he didn't like the ad.

Zac Naloen · Post by **Zac Naloen** » 2004-11-06 08:27am

Lord Pounder wrote:
Zac Naloen wrote:erm... isn't the phrase "get head"

get brained makes no sense... stupid kids.
What do most teenages think with? I think it's quite clever.

clever in what way?

the way thats written you'd be the one giving not recieving, thats if im reading your analogy right.

Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba · Post by **Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba** » 2004-11-06 09:09am

Yeah, I've also never heard it, and I'm in the centre of teenage wanna-bes who use the fact that they can say "Fuck" as their chest-pounding, Me-Tooing, and social acceptance password. Jackasses.