MP offended by crude ad stereotypes

VILNIUS - Lithuanian MP Birute Vesaite is indignant about outdoor advertising displays by Lithuania's largest mobile telephone operator, Omnitel, which make reference to blonde women.

Vesaite, a Social Democrat, took her complaint to Lithuania's equal opportunities ombudsman, asking her to take action to ban the ad she claims violates women's rights. It asks, "Which is man's best friend: a book or a blonde?"

The ad tells readers to send their answers in via mobile telephone messaging to enter a competition and win a prize.

Vesaite says the advertising campaign fosters the image of blondes as hopeless idiots. She says the ad clearly objectifies women by equating blondes with books, and implies women are less intelligent than men. Public relations personnel at Omnitel, a company owned by Scandinavian and U.S. investors, denied discriminating against women and claimed the ad playfully refers not to any specific blonde woman, but rather is directed at the stereotypical "dumb blonde" of popular myth.

Omnitel has 16 outdoor billboards with its "blonde" ad campaign on the streets of Vilnius.