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What do you think of this misogyny
Josh Adams and Maria Giordano
The Tennessean
ButtleOpener YouTube ad
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NASCAR fans see rolling advertisements for erectile dysfunction pills and alcohol, but the logo for the ButtleOpener, created by Williamson County School Board member Mark Gregory, was just too risque to appear on the hood of a car.
Gregory, a school board member since 2004, is selling a life-size replica of a woman?s buttocks clothed in a pair of panties. It is used to open beer bottles. The product hit the market in the fall of last year and Gregory has traveled to NASCAR events, football games and college campuses to market what he calls the ButtleOpener.
But when he went after a NASCAR sponsorship, Gregory said the logo got a red flag.
?Our logo, they didn?t like it. It?s got two little swoops that look like butt cheeks,? Gregory said. ?They objected to that.?
Gregory said he has heard little from the community he serves as a member of the school board since Thursday, when his product was featured in a weekly newspaper distributed in Williamson County.
The ButtleOpener, which sells for $29.95 online, is hanging in a couple of Nashville-area bars, said Gregory. His fellow board members were a bit squeamish when asked about their colleague?s product.
Board member Janine Moore didn?t want to comment, but pointed out that the item is garnering a lot of publicity.
?If you?re asking me if it?s in good taste, it might not be in the best taste. It?s a choice he?s made,? Moore said.
Eric Welch, another school board member, learned about the bottle opener at a school board meeting earlier this month.
?Obviously, it?s sophomoric in nature, and Mark recognizes that,? Welch said. ?And, I don?t think it would go with the decor in my kitchen.?
Gregory is quick to acknowledge the ButtleOpener will not appeal to everyone, but defended the product as a harmless gimmick. He is the father of three daughters and his oldest, a sophomore in college, helped with the test marketing. Gregory surprised his daughter with a ButtleOpener at her sorority house and said several of the girls loved it. The sorority has given them to fraternity houses on campus, he said.
?It?s designed to not be seen as nasty, and it?s not,? Gregory said.
To use the device, a person needs to insert a bottle into the underside of the buttock-shaped mold.
Schools Director Mike Looney declined to comment on whether the product reflects poorly on the district or the board as a whole. Gregory said he met with Looney this week on a separate matter and the superintendent did raise the subject.
?It?s unfortunate that it?s causing a distraction in the school district,? Looney said.
Re: What do you think of this misogyny
I'll probably get flamed, but I'm not surprised this guy thought his market would be NASCAR fans.
I AM kind of surprised NASCAR found it too... tasteless or something.
When you have to defend something as being "just a joke" or "not intended the way people are taking it" then it's a major fail. A major fail that usually involves racism, sexism or something else that's offensive. Is the inventor's claim to have 3 daughters like "I have black friends"?
40/112
Above Us Only Sky
yeah, I missed that he was on the school board when I first read your post. That's pretty disturbing. And his product is stupid.
That's just stupid.
Also, I originally thought this was a post to misoangry.
I'm not shocked NASCAR nixed this. Historically NASCAR prided itself on a family friendly image, and although they've had dings I think they are attempting to maintain that. What NASCAR fans may go for and the image the establishment is trying for are two different things.
If he was on the board in my daughters' district, I'd be calling for him to be removed.
Have to agree. That image is far worse than a few words on a hood. I actually love going to NASCAR races and it is very family oriented (and see very few mullets but they are there and a source of entertainment).
You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be misquoted and used against you. My Blog
this and this. and i kept reading, waiting for the part where he was removed from the school board. and it never came. i just...ugh.