Red Band Society has put Octavia Spencer on a bus ad, bearing her character’s label “Scary Bitch.” And apparently, that’s not cool with the L.A. community.
The new Fox hospital dramedy Red Band Society seeks to be edgy in its promotional campaign, first with a poster showing lead actress Zoe Levin giving the camera the finger, and now by featuring Octavia Spencer’s character label “Scary Bitch” on bus ads in L.A.
The ad, which you can see above, depicts all of the characters with an individual label. Nolan Sotillo’s Jordi is labelled “The New Guy,” while narrator Charlie (Griffin Gluck) is simply “Coma Boy.” But only Spencer’s has caused an outcry, as citizens accuse it of conveying both a racist and sexist message.
As a consequence of the complaints, this ad (which has been running on nearly 200 buses) will be pulled. This was announced by L.A. Metro’s Twitter account last Thursday:
Metro Board Exec Comte getting earful from community over allowing 'Red Band Society" ad on buses. Metro officials say ad is being pulled.
— Metro Los Angeles (@metrolosangeles) September 18, 2014
The Metro Board Exec Committee has now promised that, “Ad policy needs to be tightened to prevent ads with offensive language from being used in the future.”
MTA spokesman Mark Littman explains the decision by pointing out that Spencer’s label sends an unintentional bad message. “We don’t run ads on our buses or trains involving sex, liquor or gambling or that in any way perpetuate stereotypes,” he says.
It is unclear whether Fox is planning to remove Spencer’s character label, or replace it with something a little less offensive.
Do you think Fox went too far by labeling Octavia Spencer a “scary bitch” across town, or is the public overreacting?
Red Band Society season 1, episode 2, “Sole Searching,” airs this Tuesday at 9/8c on Fox. Read our pilot recap here.