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Street Slang Update: "Brain" Doesn't Mean Smart...
By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 5, 2004
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 5, 2004
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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As if they didn't have enough problems: Yet again the MTA get punk'd by its advertising. The MTA is banning ads that promote oral sex via street slang. Clothier Akademiks had ads running on MTA buses that said, "Read Books, Get Brain." Yet it turns out that "Get brain" means "Get oral sex." Kids today! The Daily News spoke with the ad designer, Anthony Harrison, who said, "We knew this. It's coded language, city slang. Teens know what it means but the general public doesn't." Gothamist is definitely not down with the street slang, but we did think something was fishy with this poster. If reading books really meant sexy, our high school experience would have been considerably less harrowing.
The best part? The MTA found out about it from The Daily News; MTA spokesman Tom Kelly said, "It's sad that a company and its advertising agency would appear to be promoting a good cause while instead using vulgar street phrases to demean women." Yeah, high school students figured it out: Brooklyn senior told the Daily News, "That's not kosher." Another said, "That's too sexy to be talking about some book." The ads are up in other urban centers, but New York City is the first to figure it out, thanks to the Daily News!
The MTA is also dealing with their own advertising issues, like the centennial poster that subvertly promotes Scientology.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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