Music festivals called on to ban Wicked Campers
Music media platforms have written about our campaign calling on Australian music festivals to ban Wicked Campers. Read the coverage below:
Splendour In The Grass & Other Festivals Called On To Ban Wicked Campers, Music Feeds 
Splendour In The Grass is among four Australian music festivals being called on to turf Wicked Campers (that’s the popular brand of campervans-for-hire that are often splashed with grossly misogynistic images and slogans) from future events.
Activist group Collective Shout has penned an open letter to the organisers of Splendour, Rainbow Serpent, Big Pineapple and Woodford Folk Festival, urging them to outlaw the offensive vans ASAP.
The organisation goes on to cite Wollombi Music festival organiser Adrian Buckley’s recent total Wicked Camper van ban as a shining example for the rest of the nation’s festival heads to follow:
“Some festivals around Australia have made the decision to ban individual Wicked Camper vans if they contain an offensive slogan. But we would urge festivals to go further and following the lead of Adrian Buckley in banning all Wicked Campers from your event. This would send a strong signal that you will not allow Wicked Campers to be represented in any way at your festival. Our thousands of supporters around the country would welcome this move.” Read the full article here.
Music Festivals Across Australia Called On To Ban Wicked Campers, The Music
Grassroots movement Collective Shout, which works against the objectification of women in media, advertising and pop culture, has issued an open letter to four festivals - Splendour, Rainbow Serpent, Woodford Folk Festival and Big Pineapple - urging them to introduce a complete ban of Wicked Campers.
It comes only months after director of NSW's Wollombi Music Festival, Adrian Buckley, announced Wicked Campers would not be welcome at September spectacle.
"Some festivals around Australia have made the decision to ban individual Wicked Camper vans if they contain an offensive slogan. But we would urge festivals to go further and following the lead of Adrian Buckley in banning all Wicked Campers from your event," Collective Shout's statement reads.
"This would send a strong signal that you will not allow Wicked Campers to be represented in any way at your festival. Our thousands of supporters around the country would welcome this move." Read the full article here.
See also:
Why we’re calling on music festivals to ban all Wicked Campers
Wollombi bans Wicked Campers. Others must do the same
Petition: Drive Wicked Campers off the Road
Why we’re calling on music festivals to ban all Wicked Campers
We have been campaigning against Wicked Campers for almost a decade. The company is known for its sexist and misogynist slogans and imagery, including content advocating violence against women. Since 2008, Ad Standards have upheld complaints against more than 80 vans. So far, Tasmania, ACT and Queensland have passed legislation to de-register the vans where they don’t comply with an Ad Standards ruling against them. A Bill is also awaiting debate in the S.A Parliament.
Sexism and sexual harassment
Wicked Campers sexually objectifies and demeans women by treating women as existing for men’s sexual use- and that this is a hilarious joke. Countless slogans describe what would reasonably be considered sexual harassment, or reference pornographic sexual acts for women to perform on men.
Violence against women
Some slogans advocate violence against women, including rape and murder. It’s still a joke though, as long as we accept men raping and killing women as humorous.
64 Australian women were killed by men last year.
When journalist Lucy Clark wrote an article critical of the company, they sent this van down to where she lived:
Calling on music festivals to take action
Despite growing awareness and efforts to address the national epidemic of men’s violence against women, Wicked Campers slogans routinely demean and promote violence against women. Violence against women doesn’t just exist in a vacuum- it flourishes in a culture that is openly hostile to women, one in which sexist attitudes and the sexual objectification of women is rife. In order to prevent violence against women, we need a cultural shift.
This is why we are now calling on music festivals around the country- Splendour in the grass, Rainbow Serpent, Woodford and Big Pineapple- to use their platforms and influence to send a powerful message to young Australians that violence against women is unacceptable, and to ban all Wicked Campers from entry. It’s not enough to just ban individual offensive slogans at the gate, it’s time to take a strong stance and say that women matter. Wollombi Music Festival has already taken the lead in banning Wicked Campers (see an interview with festival head Adrian Buckley here).
See also:
Petition: Drive Wicked Campers off the Road
Wollombi bans Wicked Campers. Others must do the same
Federal Minister for Women Kelly O'Dwyer calls for national response to Wicked Campers