Photos of a white sports utility vehicle (SUV) have gone viral because of the offensive and sexist joke plastered on its surface.
The photos of the SUV appeared yesterday on the Facebook page Tang*na This!, a page that complains about the injustices Filipinos experience. The message that drew netizens’ ire was originally written in Filipino and translates into: “[This SUV] kidnaps [women] with huge breasts.”
According to the post, the SUV was from Marcars Trading and Services Corporation, a used car dealer in Cubao, Quezon City. The SUV was spotted on Sunday at Eton Centris, a commercial area in EDSA, Quezon City.
The caption on the Facebook post reads: “Macho-fascist culture, Duterte culture. Let’s make MARCARS famous! Spotted this morning at Eton Centris where so many children and families are shopping and visiting. It’s a Sunday and this is what welcomed the children who were playing on the field.”
“Perhaps someone should tell Centris’ admin [office] and the Quezon City LGU (local government unit) that this is in their area and that it’s spreading macho culture, lewd [messages], and anti-women [jokes]. MARCARS is the establishment that harasses women in this area,” it added.
Because of the offensive joke, the post has been shared almost 450 times and has received more than 1,400 reactions, many of which are angry. The photos were also reuploaded by the feminist Facebook page Babae Ako; their post has been shared almost 200 times. Majority of their commenters were also angry at the post.
Coconuts Manila spoke to Marcars owner Mark Martinez over the phone and he admitted that the car was from their company. However, he clarified that they do not own the car and that it was owned by a client whom he wanted to keep anonymous.
“It was a consignment unit,” Martinez said. “I was selling that on behalf of a client. He just wanted me to sell it. That’s what we do.”
Martinez said that the car was removed from the Centris car show as soon as the photos went viral.
“It was a car show and that [SUV] was my entry. It arrived on Saturday and when it went viral I had it pulled out on Sunday. I also had the sticker removed from it.”
He said that it wasn’t his idea to have the SUV plastered with the offensive joke and that he doesn’t know who thought of it either. However, he said that such jokes were not uncommon in car shows.
“Those jokes became popular in car shows. Like a car has a sticker which says, ‘This car kidnaps people with huge butts.'”
Because of the online controversy the car generated, Martinez said his company will never pull out a stunt like that again. Ever. “Definitely not,” he vowed.
Netizens were not amused by the message on the vehicle.
One using the name Khenno NH on Facebook wrote: “Mysoginism exists because of mysoginists (sic) and apologists of catcallers, rape jokes and those who remain neutral in these topics.”
“PS: Those with sleazy ideas in their minds should change especially if they feel entitled to always prove to everyone that they are real men just to validate their manhood,” he added.
Ramonelle Plateja wrote: “What if we have stickers made for our cars saying ‘[This car] abducts [men] with small penises?’ How’s that for equality?”
Patricia Banaag tagged a friend and wrote: “Son of a b*tch. I don’t understand why that phrase has to be on the car? So that everyone knows that their business is lewd? Son of a b*tch. Disgusting.”
Have you seen other cars that display offensive messages? Share them by leaving a comment below or tweeting to @CoconutsManila.
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