New York Times: On hundreds of New York City subway cars, advertisements for Mitchum, a line of deodorants, are carrying playful messages that presumably evoke the can-do virility of the men in their 20’s and 30’s at whom the product is aimed.
One problem is that some of the messages directly contradict the policies of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
An authority spokesman, Tom Kelly, said yesterday that the ads were an error of judgment. He said the authority did not usually review ads before they went up, a task that has been contracted out to Viacom Outdoor.
“We were not aware of the wording of the advertising, because Viacom, the agent that sells it, did not call it to our attention,” Mr. Kelly said. “We’ve spoken to them about it and it will not happen again.”
Mitzie Y. Wilson, a financial consultant who rides the subway from Brooklyn, said she did not approve of the antics described in the ads. “If I saw the Mitchum Man, I would change trains,” she said.
