[LINK] "The TTC As An Arbiter of Morality and Good Taste"

[rfmcdonald]

I mostly agree with Steve Munro's reaction to the TTC's decision not to accept advertisements from Ashley Madison, an online hookup site geared specifically for married people wanting to have affairs ("Life is short. Have an affair.").

Whether the TTC likes it or not, adultery is legal as is the provision of a “dating service” to hook up would-be partners. This would not be the first such service to advertise on the TTC. LavaLife ran ads in subway cars, and there are dating service posters in some subway stations. Somehow, I doubt that everyone using these services tells their spouse/partner what they are doing.

Subway ads are running right now for the movie “It’s Complicated” whose plot involves a love triangle between a woman, her ex, and her new boyfriend. The posters include a tasteful view of Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin in bed. I don’t know whether their characters are married at the point in the film where this scene occurs, but that’s hardly the point. If the TTC is going to start censoring ads based on behaviour that is legal, they will have to be consistent.

I wish that Ashley Madison wouldn't place those ads but I can't think of any reason why they shouldn't. The publicity that the site got from this contretemps probably compensates for the lack of streetcar ads, anyway.