3 thoughts on “Update: Benetton ads a hoax”

  1. Don’t be sorry. Maybe its just me, but I get angry that this (to my mind) plays on a campaigns like the Womens Aid one which uses “celebrities” made up to look like victims of domestic abuse (see here: http://www.womensaid.org.uk/landing_page.asp?section=000100010010000400080001).

    Looking at the letters in Salon, this hoax does just what such hoaxs always seem to do – give those with anti-feminist axes to grind something to gloat about, and make people more cautious about accepting genuine messages or believing real cases. For example, there was a hoax story a few years ago about a new date rape drug which was a horse steriliser that rendered victims permanently sterile. When this turned out to be a hoax, I noticed a rise in cynicism about date rape cases more generally from people who had previously expressed outrage at the idea of a sterilising date rape drug. It seems to me that hoaxes make people sensitive to that old Russian proverb – “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me” – and when this can lead to insensitivity or cynicism to domestic violence or date rape, well that’s poor. Like I say, maybe its just me.

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