• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, December 19, 2018

So a week or so ago I got a note from the folks representing bidet maker Tushy, noting that one of the brand's “cheeky” ad campaigns was rejected by New York’s transit authority MTA. 

The campaign was a bit out there, with taglines like “Nothing says I love you like a clean butth*le.” According to Tushy, MTA rejected their campaign because it was deemed to be pushing a “sexually oriented business.” 

A bidet is a sexually oriented business? The MTA has permitted ads that were much more sexually oriented. Like breast augmentation pitches that strongly suggest that women who wouldn’t make the cut for a Hooters ad are basically unappealing to the opposite sex. Deplorable messaging  -- but the MTA took the money and slapped up the ads. 

"Saturday Night Live" even had some fun with the rejected ad campaign. 

Bidets are about personal hygiene -- not a “sexually oriented business.”  You can find them in pretty much every European hotel you stay in -- and, increasingly, hotels in the U.S. 

Love aside, there’s a lot to be said for a clean butth*le.