Wicked Campers may soon be banned from Byron Bay

Wicked's marketing plan is based on being offensive. So no real surprises here.

Good on em'.

lostdoggy wrote:

Good on em'.

Wicked Campers or the local councils Doggy?

No wicked campers allowed in Byron...that'll be the death of them...bout time too.

it'd be the death of Byron Bay , more like.

freeride76 wrote:

it'd be the death of Byron Bay , more like.

Not sure about that, Freeride.

I reckon a lot of people would be cheering to see less backpackers. Like Airlie, Fraser and maybe central Cairns, the balance of visitors is way out of whack. Local businesses might even make more money as the people who are currently staying away (including myself) started to come back.

wait, so if i spray paint some offensive shit on the side of our car, then the gf can't make me go to byron for a holiday? will that also work for berry?

long time since Byron catered mostly to Backpackers; it caters far more to high end city people these days.
Backpackers are the only rootsy thing left there.

I find councilor Dey's attitude offensive... Free rides use of the word "death" - outright offensive.... Don't get me started on the name "chook"........ Chickens have feelings too, you know.....

Death of Wicked campers does not equal death of backbackers, FR.
In my wholly judgmental opinion, I find the guys that hire wicked campers tend to be skewed well toward the 'wanker' type of backpacker rather than anything 'rootsy'.

I was kidding.

nothing could kill tourism in Byron except a great white rampaging through a surf school.

freeride76 wrote:

long time since Byron catered mostly to Backpackers; it caters far more to high end city people these days.
Backpackers are the only rootsy thing left there.

Still too many of the bastards there, staggering into me and creasing my suit. And they make it hard to park the Audi when they're sitting in the gutter.

If you want a slow oil leak and squeaky brakes get a Wicked van.

I saw the 'Old MacDonald had a farm...' Wicked van and I've never been the same since

While I'm at it, maybe Wicked can replace the vulgarity with (far more dangerous) brainy quotes like

"There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved. "

Not much really bothers me, but a slogan on a wicked van I had to try and explain to my 9 year old daughter was way over the top.
Perhaps tone it down a tad?

cant stand the slogans '
They wouldn't be tolerated as far as i can see if they were on permanent structures ie billboards. I feel that i am a pretty open minded and despise censorship in general but many of these slogans are decrepit, vulgar and cheap as fuck. reckon spraying over them is a tops idea .. gonna buy a few cans.

Kinda agree with the above comments, in one sense i like the punk attitude of pushing the limits and not a fan of censorship in theory, but on the flip side i think they go too far and am surprised they get away with it.

God i hate saying that i feel old and i despise political correctness.

Wicked aren't saying anything worth hearing, like teen age boys drunk and yelling stupid shit in public. Their offensiveness has no greater value than the cheapest possible means of lining their own pockets. So in short, they can fuck off.

Disliking the Wicked vans slogans has got nothing to do with age or political correctness. The parking cops in Byron will sort them out. Word will quickly get around.

"Wicked Campers has been in front of the Ad Standards Board 89 times, 33 of those appearances were after the company promised to tone things down."

"As per usual, Wicked Campers didn’t bother to contest the complaints, but then being Australia’s most complained-about advertiser it has become something of a past-master at ignoring admonishments and reaping the benefits of the PR."

http://mumbrella.com.au/wicked-campers-asb-rulings-357796

That Steve Hughes clip is a classic. As a potter I'm very offended!!!!

I've always thought it to be pretty stupid really. Wicked Campers succeeds because they offer the cheapest van, not because of the terrible things written on them. Some of them are funny, but the ones about sexual assault are just ridiculous and shouldn't be encouraged.

Their business would do just as well if they painted their vans with slogans like "Be happy" or "put your rubbish in the bin" or "overthrow the bourgeoisie". Or if they didn't say anything at all. I met a bloke recently down here who was always parking in odd spots and walking to the bakery/shops/waves etc. He told me because he was so embarrassed about the stuff written on the van that he didn't want people to see him get in and out of it, but it was the only one they could afford to rent. Put them in the bin.

The age old BUT
I don't agree with censorship but...
Free speech is always at threat from the offense brigade...cue twitter outrage campaign
Reverse Voltaire's everywhere
Yeah the comments / images on the vans are cheap and stupid but if we banned everything that was stupid or offensive it would be a bland old world where we are prevented from honest discourse where the stupid are called out and debated directly about their stupidity
I have kids and had to respond to some questions about the campers - the images of the dicks that look like faces of racial stereotypes - not real comfortable but from experience, it's better they hear an explanation from you than their mate or they google it!

Stupid is okay, but offensive isn't.

Yep Palmy can see your Voltaire point. But when society is grappling with child and female abuse then maybe it's time to pull back. Really you should not have had to explain the slogans to your kids. Some openly encourage abuse on any Voltarian understanding.

People have a right to see all kinds of strongly sexual material.
People also have a right not to see it. A right denied them when it is plastered on vans travelling on public roads.

Surprised to see 100,000 sign a petition in that link.

This does bring to mind something we've lost since the 90's - that irreverant attitude and willingness to deface/graffitti, and question.

Back in 90's Perth the cops were doing a billboard ad slogan near Mounts Bay Hospital "If you drink and drive you're a bloody idiot," really no similar to 1000 guilt ridden campaigns they (or the TAC) have done since. The public laps it up generally, and ensures someone is paid a triple figure salary to figure out inane catchphrases.

Anyway, one group back then weren't having any of it - they defaced the massive sign, crossing out 'idiot' and replacing with the word 'legend'! It was a total breath of fresh air, and the subject of much mirth. The cops later corrected the slogan, crossing out 'legend' and then writing 'idiot' beside it.

So when I first saw Wicked vans, it was a revelation, for someone, anyone, out there had remembered this irreverence than an entire generation after the 90's was educated without. The fact that a backpacker would choose to go around Australia with 'I like big butts and I cannot lie' written on their car as a footnote to their experience, was even funnier.

Long live free speech.

Or alternatively, 'Never Swim Alone' - or 100 other guilt/fear ad campaigns. Take those off the roads instead of Wicked.

It's just crude for the sake of pushing the boundaries. They don't offend me personally but I can understand people not wanting to read their shit in public. My recommendation spray paint over it , smash the windscreen then slash their tyres. If your really outraged torch the fucking thing to the ground problem solved.

I've stopped my children from walking in the street so as to avoid having to constantly explain the graffiti around Newcastle. I don't mind the constant feed of programming they get through advertising and media though, children with body image disorders are cheaper to feed.

tim foilat wrote:

I've stopped my children from walking in the street so as to avoid having to constantly explain the graffiti around Newcastle. I don't mind the constant feed of programming they get through advertising and media though, children with body image disorders are cheaper to feed.

Was common to go for an early surf at Redhead to find a wicked van in the carpark, surrounded by empty grog bottles and other assorted crap. A bunch of disrespectful twits sleeping it off inside after their party.
Great on a summers weekend when the carpark fills up early. The slogans don't seem so amusing.

The butthurt in this thread is amazing..... For a moment, I thought I was reading the Andrew Bolt Blog...

Hako o hakonde ni-biki no inu wrote:

Stupid is okay, but offensive isn't.

I think it's stupid to be so effected by offence.......

I'm a big boy and not offended by their slogans personally, but they aren't saying anything worth hearing and they are trading on pushing the boundaries of whats publicly acceptable. So in light of that, if a place says, "hey, we don't need that here" then more power to them. That's more about an expression of community values than encroachment on free speech.

I agree with that mk1.

In any case, this discussion of offense in this thread is a bit out of place, because I imagine that most of us here are blokes. And probably white blokes at that. So we're probably the least likely to be offended by Wicked Camper slogans such as:

"Save a whale, harpoon a Jap"
"Wife: an attachment you screw to the bed to get the housework done"
"Dear Lucy, I can already imagine the gaffa tape on your mouth"
"Suck Away (a 'play on words' for Subway wiht a picture of a woman eating a sandwich)"
"Drink until she is pretty"

Etc. (https://www.google.com.au/search?q=slogans+on+wicked+campers&espv=2&biw=...)

A key element in this, are that Wicked uses many slogans - some a clever play on words but some clearly offensive. Maybe it's time see what Rosemary Batty is trying to do or the child abuse commission. In this case a community will react to help and work against those that seem to encourage or dismiss the domestic violence and abuse issues.

stunet wrote:

It's not easy to find solid ground in a debate of this nature. I'll admit to being torn. On one hand I agree with Voltaires maxim, on the other hand I wish free speech was being tested by someone with something worthwhile to say.

The only thing worse than being offensive for its own sake is doing it for commercial gain. Feels too much like the manipulation of a vital principle.

I think that's what shits me as well Stu - sure, push the limits of free speech, go for your life but why not say something worthwhile instead of just looking for (financial) attention.
Surely there're enough political and social issues to have an offensive crack at?

Indo said something a while back about a punk ethos.
I see very limited punk ideals in Wicked's slogans.
To me, punk was about individual freedom, anti-establishment and anti-authoritarianism - being deliberately offensive was for the intellectual pygmies.

Same with street graffiti - I don't mind it but have an input, not just a narcissistic artless tag.

Sign of the times maybe?

But Stu - I am sure Voltaire also has a far more obscure quote about not being a borish knob-end too. (between him and Oscar Wilde surely).

The motto of the French Republic is Liberty, Equality & Fraternity - not Liberty, Liberty, Liberty. A modern functioning society must balance these 3 somewhat opposing ideals and so boundaries are required, whether via legal regulation (in the west) or via cultural regulation (in the east). This is part of that process playing out.

Good point that it's easy not to be offended when you're a white dude (Dan) and that being deliberately offensive for no reason was not punk (Andy).

If you are going to push the boundaries for no reason but your own gain, don't be surprised if they push back.

Sheepdog wrote:

Hako o hakonde ni-biki no inu wrote:

Stupid is okay, but offensive isn't.

I think it's stupid to be so effected by offence.......

Well being a dickhead you would, get your hand of it cause I'm not biting.
To busy surfing, remember that, it was something you imagined you were good at:)

Hako o hakonde ni-biki no inu writes; "To busy surfing, remember that"...........

For starters, learn the difference between "to" and "too"......
Secondly, if you are too busy surfing, what the fuck are you doing writing here? You got a waterproof lap top?
Fuckn mung bean.. :p

isn't this all a bit pot calling the kettle black?
isn't surfing itself meant to be offensive? doing a pointless pursuit in the middle of a working day just to piss off the hard-working, sanctamonious stiffs.

"isn't surfing itself meant to be offensive? doing a pointless pursuit in the middle of a working day just to piss off the hard-working, sanctamonious stiffs. "

Not sure I agree that is the point of surfing, BUT, there is a point to giving up and doing something pointless, if you get what I mean.

Sheepdog wrote:

Hako o hakonde ni-biki no inu writes; "To busy surfing, remember that"...........

For starters, learn the difference between "to" and "too"......
Secondly, if you are too busy surfing, what the fuck are you doing writing here? You got a waterproof lap top?
Fuckn mung bean.. :p

Sheepdog I don't like you, never have, so please don't comment on anything I have to say.

I could not give a fuck about what to and too add up two, or whether it is there, their or they're.
I don't understand those sorts of things just can't get my head around it, but I get the message I am trying to send across.
You just showed yourself for who you are, and it ain't impressive.

Wicked must be popular in Port Lincoln, there is a $250 fee for any renter that goes there, wonder what that's about?

Have you been researching a trip up that way two ? ;-)
Car share , apparently that's what all the Mexican surfing tourists do these days . Looking for their Instagram Nirvana !

mk1 wrote:

The motto of the French Republic is Liberty, Equality & Fraternity - not Liberty, Liberty, Liberty. A modern functioning society must balance these 3 somewhat opposing ideals and so boundaries are required, whether via legal regulation (in the west) or via cultural regulation (in the east). This is part of that process playing out.

Understand the point but the example is perhaps not the best; when trying to enforce the Equality and Fraternity part of it all on the populace, things got particularly bloody. Throats slit in baths, heads on pikes, entire lower jaws disconnected while being dragged to the guillotine, etc.