Wicked Camper are infamous for their offensive van slogans, and their stubbornness to get rid of them. They still have hundreds of vans in circulation that are emblazoned with provocative graffiti along the lines of:
“A wife: an attachment you screw on the bed to get the housework done”; “I don’t like small cars or real big women but sometimes I always find myself in them”; “A man would be interested in a woman’s mind if it bounced gently as she walked”; “The best thing about oral sex is the 5 minutes of silence”; and “Save a whale, harpoon a Jap”.
So it’s great news that Wollombi music festival has decided to officially ban the vans from on site.
In a statement, they said,
“For years we’ve had concerns about any Wicked Campers turning up at the festival with some of their pathetically unfunny and misogynistic slogans splattered across its panels. We’ve actively discouraged people from hiring them and encouraged patrons to look elsewhere, but this year we’ve decided to ban them full-stop. Not just if a van has a demeaning slogan. If ANY Wicked Camper turns up at the fest they won’t be welcome.”
In follow up post on Facebook, they reiterated:
“Disrespecting & degrading women isn’t funny or libertine, it’s just disgraceful. We look forward to being one of many festivals doing the same thing.”
Splendour in the Grass has discouraged ticket holders from arriving in offensive vans, but this is believed to be the first outright ban from a festival.
There are a lot of people behind the fight against Wicked vans. Over the years, the Advertising Standards Bureau has fielded plenty of complaints for messaging deemed to be offensive to women, LGBT communities and others.
Politicians have called for local- and state-wide bans of the vehicles. But those are hard to enforce, and that has led some politicians to call for the laws to be applied nationally, and a petition signed by 7,800 people encouraging all state governments to “end Wicked Campers’ mobile misogyny once and for all”.
Hopefully if more events get on board with the Wicked Camper ban and regulations can block them, then Wicked can be snubbed out for good.