These Subway Ads Were Rejected by the MTA for Being Too Sexual

According to a statement from the MTA, the ads “violate the advertising policy set by the MTA Board.”

UPDATE: MTA spokesman Jon Weinstein told The New York Times that the MTA plans to, “work with the company toward a resolution that is agreeable to all parties and allows their ads on the system.” While it’s not an immediate green light for the brand to put up its ads on New York subways, Unbound CEO Polly Rodriguez sees it as a step in the right direction.

“We’re looking forward to learning what this means for this campaign, and we haven’t yet heard what the terms of this will be. We want to make certain we’re not just putting a band-aid on this issue, but really making an effort to change the policies that resulted in this dispute in the first place. Ultimately, we’d love to be able to make a lasting impact on the policies that have, and obviously continue to, discriminate against companies that cater to different genders and versions of sexuality,” Rodriguez told Adweek via email.

Polly Rodriguez, Unbound’s CEO and co-founder, noted that before the brand even set out to create the ads (displayed below), her team reached out to the MTA about six months ago to get a sense of what the guidelines were for a brand like Unbound that wanted to advertise on the subway.

“The MTA said, ‘Categorically, we don’t think your company would be allowed to run subway ads,’ so we started to think about what’s a campaign we could do that would not highlight the company and what we do but would actually highlight other women and allow them to tell the stories for us,” Rodriguez said.

Unbound worked with five artists, including Laura Callaghan, Loveis Wise and Kristen Liu Wong, to create a series of ads that fit with the brand’s ultimate goals but did so in a tasteful and not overtly sexual way. Regardless, the MTA and Outfront Media, which is behind all advertising for the MTA, still rejected the ads. Since the decision, Unbound has tried to work with both parties to find out what the next steps would be if it wanted to appeal the decision or tweak the advertisements, but it has gotten little to no response.

Outfront Media did not immediately respond to Adweek’s request for comment.

Period underwear brand Thinx had a similar issue with its subway ads when Outfront Media took issue with the word “period” being used in the out-of-home ads. Eventually, Thinx was able to get the ads up and running.

But Unbound isn’t having as easy a time. “There’s nobody who is taking accountability for who is deciding what the rules are and aren’t,” Rodriguez said. “There is no real appeals process.”

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Katie Richards

@ktjrichards

Katie Richards is a staff writer for Adweek.