UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, February 7, 1997
3A
Degrading ad loses orders for Gumby's
By Paul Eakins
Kansan staff writer
An offensive advertisement caused Gumby's Pizza, 1445 W. 23rd St., to lodge more than 20 customers last week.
The store had distributed advertisement flyers to various scholarship and residence halls, but when the women of Douthart Scholarship Hall saw it, many of them chose to boycott Gumby's.
"The advertisement used phrases demeaning to women. It made me not want to spend my money there," said Molly McSerson, Derby junior, and president of Douthart.
The advertisement was a top 10list of reasons to buy pizza from Glimby's.
paring the reasons found offensive by McSerson were that women in bikinis would deliver the pizzas to a customer's door and that Gumby's pizza was cheaper than a $10 hooker.
McSerson first brought the advertisement to the attention of the residents during a hall meeting. And she wrote a letter to Gumby's, explaining why it would no longer receive her business.
"I couldn't believe they brought it to a women's hall," she said referring to the all-female Douthart Hall.
About 20 other Douthart women signed the letter as well, McSerson said.
"Hopefully it will make them more aware. They'll think twice about being offensive to anyone," she said.
Laura Montgomery, Leavenworth junior, who also lives in Douthart, said she had decided to write her own letter to Gumby's and a letter to its national office in Gainesville, Fla.
Montgomery, who considers herself a feminist, said she was offended by the objectification of women in the advertisement and saw it as a sign of the perpetuation of inequality between men and women.
As long as everyone accepts actions like that, nothing will be done about it. Despite the advances women have made, we will never be equal when we're objectified," she
advertisement used phrases demeaning to women. It made
menotwant to
spend my money there. "
In addition to the letters, Gumby's received complaints from other sources, which Kyle Long, manager of Gumby's, would not reveal.
Molly McSerson
Douthart Scholarship Hall President
said.
After receiving the complaints, Long said he had sent people to retrieve all of the remaining advertisements where they had been distributed, so as not to offend others.
Long would not say where the advertisements had been originally distributed.
Long said he had not expected the negative reaction to the advertisements.
"They were made to be humorous, not to offend," he said.
Long said this event may influence future decisions in advertising at Gumby's.
At the very least, Gumby's may place a disclaimer on future advertisements so that customers understand that it is meant to be a joke, Long said.
Despite these assurances, McSerson said this would not change her attitude toward Gumby's.
"A company that would do that in the first place, I'm not going to patronize," she said. "There are a lot of other pizza places in town."
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FULL SERVICE SALON
FOR MEN AND WOMEN
842-5921 9th & Mississippi
Collision Specialists (913) 841-3672 call for appt. 800 E 23rd. St.
1997-1998 Kansas Health Foundation Undergraduate Fellowship in Health Promotion and Community Development
Columnist gets award
- $1,000 tuition stipend ($500 each semester)
- Enrollment in a 2-semester practicum
Application Deadline: March 1, 1997
Information & applications available from:
KU Work Group, 4086 Dole Hall,
Kansas University
(913) 864-0533
Special to the Kansan
This honor has been given annually since 1950 to journalists who exemplify the ideals of William Allen White, the influential Kansas editor and publisher for whom the KU journalism school is named.
David Broder, national political correspondent for The Washington Post and a Pulitzer Prize winner, has been chosen to receive the William Allen White Medallion.
David Broder
"When I was invited and was told I would be receiving the medallion, I was thrilled," Broder said. "I grew up in a small town in Illinois where William Allen White was a hero. My parents thought he was the best thing going."
The award will be presented at 1:30 p.m. today at the Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union.
A dinner with members of the William Allen White Foundation Board of Trustees was held last night.
This morning Broder is scheduled to have breakfast with student journalists in the Kansas Union, coffee
with faculty and lunch with trustees at the Adams Alumni Center.
Broder received a bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago and a master's degree in political science.
ence from the same university.
Broder worked for several publications before joining The Washington Post in 1966. He writes a twice-weekly column covering a wide spectrum of American political life.
The column is syndicated by the Washington Post Writers Group and is published by more than 300 newspapers around the world.
"If there is anywhere a journalist should show up, it's on a college campus because the future of this business I've enjoyed so well is in the hands of that generation, both as journalists and as readers," he said.
"He has the high sense of necessary ethical standards journalists have to bring to work," said Bill Dickinson, Peter and Barbara Macdonald resident professional at the school of journalism.
Broder said he was looking forward to visiting the University.
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