A woman's dignity? Now worth 3$, according to Telus

I've always loved the Telus campaigns, with the cute little critters doing cute stuff, like the bunny rabbits watching football, or the little tree frogs falling in love. Though devoid of any marketing knowledge, I had figured that all that cuteness and mushiness was mainly directed at young, female customers (because, ya know, as women, we're just so, like, into feelings and stuff, right?).

It's all over now.

Move over bunny rabbits. Porn is now available on a cellphone near you.

Apparently, Telus is willing to trash its goody-good corporate image, its slogan "The future is friendly", and its aspirations to become "Canada's best corporate citizen", in order to make more profit at the expense of the vulnerable.

Since recently, Telus Mobility is offering its customers the opportunity to download porn (images and videos) on their cellphones. Talk about a genuine interest in promoting community values. Now any self-loathing pervert in Canada who has a subscription to Telus can objectify women - and possibly children, who knows? - for 3 to 4 bucks a shot.

After all, cellphones are *so* private. It's not as if the little third-graders on a field trip to the City Zoo sitting next to the bloke on the bus will not be able to catch a glimpse of it. It's not as if little Jimmy won't be able to steal Daddy's phone to learn how to interact with women.

Enough said.

If you are utterly disgusted by this new "service" and the hypocrisy Telus Mobility has demonstrated in downplaying the gravity of the effects of pornography on vulnerable groups such as women and children, and concurrently pretending to care about the well-being of the Canadian society, here are a few suggestions of things you can do:

- Boycott Telus;
- If you already have a subscription with Telus, don't renew it, and tell them why you're dumping them;

In any case, write to Telus to disapprove of this move:

President's Office
Telus Mobility
200, Consilium Place
Scarborough, Ontario
Canada
M1H 3J3

or email them at: ethicsline@telus.com

The Ethics Line can also be reached by phone at: 1-888-265-4112.

Should you write to Telus, CC your letter to the folks at the CRTC:

Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission
Ottawa (Head Office)
CRTC
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
K1A 0N2

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