How a woman got a sexist Malaysian billboard taken down – and how to stop more from appearing

A Malaysian woman took on a sexist billboard and won, but has anything really changed since then? Read more at straitstimes.com.

KUALA LUMPUR – If you are a Malaysian driving back to your home town this Hari Raya, it would be hard to miss the plethora of catchy billboards dotting the miles of highways across Peninsular Malaysia.

In between the light-hearted advertisements, however, some of these billboards have hit the nerves of many for using what may be deemed as misogynistic and sexist language – from skincare products playing on skin-colour sensitivities to healthcare supplements laced with sexual innuendos.

For Malaysian paediatrician Ayne Zarof, one such billboard angered her so much years ago that she pushed for it to be taken down – and she actually succeeded after lodging a complaint with watchdog Advertising Standards Malaysia (ASA).

“So I went through ASA, and it was a quick and straightforward process,” Dr Ayne, who now works in the United Kingdom, related to The Straits Times.

The billboard in question promoted a skin brightening serum with the tagline calling it “the cause for polygamy”, depicting a man in Malay traditional wedding attire shielding his eyes with sunglasses from the serum’s glare.

“It does not only make a joke about polygamy but also reduces women to objects,” she said in an Instagram post back then. “It insinuates that women attract other people’s husbands.”