The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL), considered the largest faith-based lobbying group in Australia, is furious about the sexual content of a shoe company's new online campaign.

 

The ad, by Dunlop for its Volley brand shoes, features nude and scantily-clad models. Some of them are even gay!

 

ACL Queensland director Wendy Davis tweeted: “Parents be aware Dunlop Volley still sell sandshoes for school kids, but their website has R rated images as they’re now ‘all about rooting.’"

 

The term "rooting" is Aussie slang for sex.

 

“Volley sandshoes ads are defended as fine for our kids," she added. "I’m ridiculed for concern. I’ll cop the ridicule & keep fighting for kid’s innocence.”

 

“Our campaign is all about the celebration of sexual expression whilst remembering to stay safe," Dunlop replied. "For this reason we’ve joined arms with Ansell condoms in support of safe sex, as whilst we’re all about rooting, we believe in ‘safety first.'"

 

“I’m not sure she’s offended by the images so much as what they seem to represent, which is freedom, sexuality, and … footwear," Samuel Leighton-Dore, a model in the ad, said. “I think when recognisably Australian brands start to embrace diversity and sexuality in their branding, it’s a sign that organisations like ACL are fighting the tide.”

 

The ACL actively campaigns against same-sex marriage in Australia. In fact, last year the head of the organisation refused to apologise after he compared equal marriage to the Holocaust.

 

Of course, if the group was hoping fewer people would see the ad after complaining about it, it was so very wrong. In fact, here it is!