TurnRightThenLeft,

So you are happy to reinforce the perception that these 'hoons' have? If they are being hoons because they are insecure in their masculinity, the adverts are validating and more so reinforcing the reason for their bad behaviour.

If a 'hoon' is being a hoon because he has a small dick, and wants to prove his masculinity, you are saying to him, yes your masculinity is determined by the size of your dick, but being a hoon doesn't fool us you have an adequate appendage. The hoon then goes on to find another way to prove his masculinity.

Wouldn't it be better to teach young guys that their masculinity isn't dependent on the size of his dick in the first place

Frankly, if they're hoons who speed off from traffic lights, they're unlikely to be take much note of carefully calibrated, politically correct gender commentary.

If they're speeding and the message "hey, ya tool, people who speed have small dicks. You speed?" makes them stop speeding and risking the lives of others, then yep. I'm quite okay with it.

It's a shame about the penis-size and self-worth issue, I guess, but very few safety messages actually cut through to this demographic.

Other messages aren't cutting through - this one has. If it stops speeding, then yes. I'd rather they were alive than insecure, even if they are a hoon.

As for the overall issues of insecurity, frankly, I don't like the idea of people modulating messages such as this for fear of offending men.

I tend to think men can hack it and I don't place much of a premium on getting worked up over this compared to other issues.

It's saving lives. Some men may feel threatened. Tough. It may sound like the typical non-PC macho response, but all I can say, is get over it.

If they feel the need to prove their masculinity, they can do it by showing that they're not hoons, but they don't let trivial things like TV ads bother them.

Col Rouge,

"Actually, one of the easiest ways of finding ones way into a ladies "affections" is to pretend to be dealing with issues of confusion over possibly being gay."

This belongs in the same basket with men who believe that a lesbian just needs a good
lay - and that they'd be the right person to do it.

TRTL,

'As for the overall issues of insecurity, frankly, I don't like the idea of people modulating messages such as this for fear of offending men.'

Seems to cut it for anything offensive to women.

Is it really saving lives? How do they calculate this? I'm not being smart, I just wonder how you can prove causation. What if the hoons turn to domestic violence rather than speeding as a result of these magnified identity problems?

I can understand your argument, and understand when I'm being called a nancy boy wuss. I just prefer to live in a society where the government doesn't encourage sexually degrading gestures. I'd also prefer men be ostracised for breaking the law, not breaking the law as a man.

I wouldn't have said nancy boy wuss... if that were the case, then you wouldn't be so vehement in your responses.

Andrew Bolt talks plenty of drivel, but I give him credit for having convictions. Judging from his responses to comments he supports the ads, but it's in a roundabout fashion.

Here: "And how well it’s worked. If the RTA research is to be believed, more than 60 per cent of young male drivers surveyed said the campaign made them think of driving less like a hoon."

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/column_how_low_can_you_go/

If it is working - then it's insulting hoons and making them think twice. If it's not, then men aren't paying it any attention.
Either way the argument still stands.

I do concur with the fact that there would be an outcry if a similar thing occurred for women.
That being said, I probably wouldn't have issues if there were an ad that used some flat-chested insult, provided it was a proven success at saving their lives - speeding, or perhaps something like breast cancer. Though it'd be a bit less worthy than this speeding campaign, as breast cancer isn't risking other people's lives through stupidity as well.

Problem is, most women at risk of say, breast cancer, aren't the young hoons who ignore most messages about their safety, so they wouldn't have to resort to such an ad campaign. This kind of thing should be the last resort, in the same manner as those graphic images of accidents are.

You're right in that a campaign like this focusing on women's body issues probably wouldn't be accepted however.

Wow Col, you bite and scratch like a wounded pussy.

Loving the personal attacks by the way, shows real class