WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The NYC subway has rejected ads submitted by Dame Products, a startup that sells sex toys for woman. The sex toy company has decided to take legal action against the Metropolitan Transit Authority saying that the agency violated their rights by not letting it run ads.
Dame Products says MTA rejected its ads citing 'updated guidelines' prevented 'sexually oriented' businesses from advertising. However, the company points out that pharmaceutical and supplement companies like Hims, Hers, and Welleco are allowed to advertise on the subway. The startup says it spent about $150,000 to develop and revise the ad campaign it believed would be approved to run.
'The MTA's decision to reject Dame's advertisements reflects no legitimate principle of law,' Dame wrote in the complaint. 'Instead, it reveals the MTA's sexism, its decision to privilege male interests in its advertising choices, and its fundamental misunderstanding of Dame's products, which have transformed the sexual health and wellness of more than 100,000 consumers.'
Dame Products seek damages for the MTA's violation of Dame's rights to free speech and due process under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
'We're arguing that the MTA's arbitrary censorship is unconstitutional because they have not clearly defined the term 'sexually-oriented business. It's fully at their discretion who gets to use their platform, and that sort of censorship violates our first amendment rights,' said Alexandra Fine, co-founder and CEO of Dame Products, to Motherboard.
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