‘Paintbrush lady’ declares war on Wicked slogans

Published: May 23, 2019

The anger over the slogans painted on Wicked campervans, which are commonly described as misogynist, racist and sickeningly offensive, is threatening to boil over.

Many grey nomads will have been offended at some stage by the some of the slogans on the fleet of hired campervans that are clearly designed to be provocative and memorable.

However, in New South Wales, one member of the Country Women’s Association (CWA) has taken matters into her own hands by marching into a local hardware, buying  a paint and brush, and then painting over a part of the slogan that she argued could promote domestic violence.

“You can push a person so far and then at some point you say ‘well I’m going to push back’,” the woman told the ABC. “This is really not on to have something as disgusting as that written on the back of a vehicle being driven through an area where there are children and other’s highly offended.”

And the woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, insists that she would not hesitate to pull out the paintbrush again if confronted again by a slogan she believes offensive.

“Bring ’em on,” she said. “Get them all to come here. If they come here they will get the same treatment if I have the opportunity.”

However, the police have advised that if an officer witnessed an action such as this the woman could be arrested for malicious damage.

Following the paintover incident, the CWA NSW north coast branch at Bangalow has decided to push a motion for the organisation to apply further pressure at government level.

“Some of the slogans on these vans are so offensive … they are misogynistic at best and the promote violence at worst,” Bangalow CWA President Di Campbell told the ABC. “There is no place for these in today’s society, imagine being in a camping ground and having one of these vans next to you.”

The CWA branch will now lobby state and federal politicians in an attempt to have uniform legislation which could see the vans taken off the roads.

The ABC reports that while states like Queensland and Tasmania already have legislation allowing for de-registering vehicles which do not comply to advertising standards, these can be circumvented by registering the vehicle in another state which does not have laws preventing the slogans.

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I have travelled Australia and I did find some of the slogans on those vans offensive. I did also wonder about children seeing them. I also wondered if the tourists using them knew what they were driving around portraying and if they did; would they agree to it?

Walk down the aisle of any newsagency and you will see things as bad or worse.
I agree the vans look ugly and they are a bit in your face…

Just keep going and enjoy all the other wonderful things to see. You have to try and see the forest from the trees. Safe travels.

We have a choice wether or not to walk into a newsagency. The roads belong to us all. Can’t always just look away. Get rid of them.

Wicked should use this imagination to develop slogans promoting the intended purpose. There are so many beautiful places in Australia which have a story to tell. Why not a ‘slogan’ persay given reason to visit the rock, or a mural of Kings Canyon to lure tourists to those parts of the country. Surely the people driving those vans are doing so in order to visit our sights. Any comedian can come up with a disgusting slogan but it’d be inspiring to see Wicked turn into beautiful displays of art showing the best of Oz. The Blue Lake, Devils Marbles, Bungles ……. The list is endless. All it takes is getting your mind out of the gutter and start pondering the road ahead. Make people dream with aspirations rather than cringe with disgust and fear. Your call Wicked campers.

Good on her I say. I’m not a prude by any stretch of the imagination & I’ve seen several that I found offensive or purely disgusting & have wondered how it’s allowed. Also the way these vans look I wonder about the roadworthiness of them as well as not all states have roadworthy checks before re registering vehicles. Imagine being stuck behind one for awhile with some disgusting slogan right in front of you.

Wicked Campers love this sort of free advertising & promotion. Do you really think backpackers who rent these vans give a toss what you or the CWA lady think.

Jed, you are right neither Wicked or the backpackers that hire this vehicle care what is on them but, as Pata said use your imagination to promote the country, Wicked would not lose any business but some of the areas that they advertise would benefit. I am not a so called progressive that believes that that everything has to be legislated but the solution seems simple to me, change these hideous slogans or close them down, end of story.

I remember seeing the first of these a few years ago and was really angered by the fact that the foul slogans (and yes, they are foul!) are being thrown at everyone and we have no choice over seeing them or not. What’s worse is that the company is using them as a cynical marketing ploy to appeal to a younger demographic who have yet to learn that shock-factor may be amusing to some but offensive to many. A trendy camper company is fine with me but not one which trades on filth and anti-social messaging. For the dear CWA lady – good on you, madam. If you get caught, I’ll help pay your fines.

here here Vulcan.

Helloooooooooo, a brush and a can of paint ????????, i take it she’s not all the bright the CWA lady, never heard of pressure pack

There are laws for offensive T-shirts, so why not laws for offensive smut written on vehicles? Get them off the road & cleaned up. They obviously are not clever enough to create witty sayings & rely on the shock factor to get this sort of free publicity.
A few I have seen in my travels appear to be far from roadworthy with balding tyres & uneven suspension. Crack down on them.

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