Greece’s Civil Protection was forced to take down a campaign spot with sexist content in which it was urging Greeks to avoid crowding and socializing outdoors amid the pandemic. The spot broadcast on Saturday triggered an outrage due to its content featuring a young woman as irresponsible, superficial and ignorant.
The spot perpetuated misogynistic stereotypes of an “alpha”, “macho” male who knows better than his “immature sweetie” girl friend why they should not crowd at the nearby square.
The “macho,” actor Christos Loulis, explained on the spot how his naive, girly partner tried to lure him to the square with her kitty-like “sweet voice.” But an alpha male knows better even how to chastise her.
Loulis’ tells the public how his superficial partner told him innocently “Why don’t we go to the crowded square?” Alpha male explains to here that “maybe because everyone will be there?”
Yet the naive partner keeps on not understanding the problem and tells him “But everyone will be there … she tells me in her sweet voice with which she does whatever she want with me,” the actor tells Greeks.
Ανεπίτρεπτος και επικίνδυνος ο συνωστισμός στις πλατείες! Γιατί κανένας μας δεν θέλει να γυρίσουμε εκεί που ήμασταν χτες!
Η νέα καμπάνια της Πολιτικής Προστασίας, μιλάει για τον κίνδυνο που διατρέχουμε όταν δεν τηρούμε τις αποστάσεις που πρέπει , σε δημόσιους χώρους.🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷 pic.twitter.com/5QRB0QWi5n
— Νίκος Γ. Χαρδαλιάς (@nhardalias) May 9, 2020
The spot was, of course, posted also by the Head of Civil Protection Nikos Hardalias – aka Nick Hard as some Greeks mock him for his authoritarian style during the pandemic daily briefings. With his tweet, Hardalias “ordered” Greeks:
“Overcrowding in the squares is unacceptable and dangerous! Because none of us want to go back to where we were yesterday!
The new Campaign for Civil Protection speaks of the danger we face when we do not keep the necessary distances in public places.”
In a statement the Civil Protection announced on Sunday morning that it withdraws the spot because it does want to “divide” the society.
The spot “provoked some reactions and criticism for sexism. Because of this impression, no matter how unfair to us in relation to our intentions, that we do not want to exist even as a suspicion, we withdraw it,” the statement said.
It added “the goal of our campaign was and is to raise awareness throughout society. When a spot, instead of uniting people, can divide them, it obviously doesn’t serve its purpose.”
Worth noting that spot protagonist Loulis was playing the role of Yanis Varoufakis in Costas Gavras film “Adults in the room.”
