WDVE Billboard

There was such a public outcry when this billboard came out ten years ago that it wasn’t hard to find this image in the Post-Gazette archives. Of course there's not much that needs to be said about the image since the not very subtle billboard speaks for itself. When confronted about the image it was no surprise the WDVE brass attempted to justify the image by saying it was no more explicit than a Cosmo cover, while stressing that the image was marketed  to the radio station's mainly male target audience. But what did surprise me was an article written by a female Post-Gazette staffer protesting (sort of) the billboards. In her story she manages to use the words, “wettest dreams,” as well as “ejaculation” and ends the article by saying “what boobs we are.” Finally she gets to her real complaint; the proliferation of billboards in and around Pittsburgh. When referring to the content of the 'DVE billboards she actually states “This is a problem we wouldn't have if we didn't have so damn many billboards.”  It was such a missed opportunity for the writer to make a serious statement about the exploitation of women’s bodies but instead she resorted to cheap, sexist double entendres and innuendos which just weakened her credibility on either issue.

Lowry, Patricia. “Places: Radio Billboards Send a Strong Signal About Women.”Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 24 Apr 2002. Web 23 Jan 2012.