Placeholder Content Image

"Show us your Regina" tourism campaign labelled "a failure of epic proportions"

<p>A tourism campaign for the Canadian city of Regina has certainly gotten the world talking - just not for the right reasons. </p> <p>The controversial approach to promoting the area has outraged its locals, who condemned the marketing as not only “misogynistic” and also “pathetic and disgusting”. </p> <p>The tourism agency behind the campaign - Experience Regina - believed that “Show us your Regina” would be of benefit to the city, particularly as Regina rhymes with vagina. </p> <p>“The city that rhymes with fun” is another slogan they slipped into their controversial campaign, and was featured on a line of merchandise made in collaboration with 22Fresh. All posts featuring the clothing campaign have since been removed. </p> <p>Outrage came fast and furious, and the organisation was forced to acknowledge their mistake, taking to Twitter to share their thanks for everyone “holding them accountable”. </p> <p>“I want to start by apologising, on behalf of myself and our team, for the negative impact we created with elements of our recent brand launch," said Experience Regina’s Tim Reid in a statement to Twitter. </p> <p>He went on to note that they’d had positive feedback, but that it was “clear we fell short of what is expected from our amazing community with some of the slogans we used.” </p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Thank you for using your voice, thank you for holding us accountable, and thank you for allowing us to be better.</p> <p>-Tim Reid, CEO of Experience Regina <a href="https://t.co/VdS4NyYop3">pic.twitter.com/VdS4NyYop3</a></p> <p>— Experience Regina (@ExpRegina) <a href="https://twitter.com/ExpRegina/status/1637586812427468801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p>People were not thrilled with the apology, believing that it was up to the company to do more to right their wrongs, and to actually acknowledge where they had veered off course in their decision making process. </p> <p>“Do better. This is pathetic and disgusting,” wrote one unhappy Twitter user. </p> <p>“There needs to be significant changes and very public acknowledgement of the mistakes made,” said another, before allowing that “this is a start.”</p> <p>“Did you ask literally anyone if it was a good idea?” one asked. </p> <p>Someone else opted to outline exactly what the majority were trying to tell them, stating that “this is a failure of epic proportions. You not only showed complete disrespect for women in our community but also a complete disregard for the comfort and safety of women in this community. We are owed the full story about how this came to be.” </p> <p>The uproar was so loud that Regina City Councillor Cheryl Stadnichuk issued a statement to Facebook, declaring that she too was “incredibly disappointed and appalled … with the sexist messaging of the new Experience Regina.” </p> <p>She went on to explain that she hadn’t been given any advance notice regarding the campaign’s slogan, and her thoughts on them.</p> <p>“The slogans associated with the campaign … are misogynist and objectify women’s bodies. As one woman pointed out on social media, would we engage school children with this messaging? I also ask, do we want men harassing women in bars chanting ‘show us your Regina?’,” she wrote.</p> <p>“There are so many serious ramifications of these slogans. We have extremely high rates of intimate partner violence and sexual assault in our city. </p> <p>“As a society, we have a responsibility to teach boys and men about consent. These slogans do the opposite.”</p> <p><iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpermalink.php%3Fstory_fbid%3Dpfbid0B6NsGhF2GBJXi67JrVTotVSefpYn7wGqFGqcA1tMiEBXLz5habNboqp2Gt6LVMnfl%26id%3D100064052141182&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=500" width="500" height="276" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>Response to her post was mostly positive - people were glad to see someone in power speaking out with them - but there were those that still wanted to hear more from the company itself. One day later, they did. </p> <p>Tim Reid once again took to Twitter to share what steps Experience Regina would be taking moving forward. </p> <p>To begin, they were removing “all content that is offensive or inappropriate”, something that many had been calling for from the beginning. </p> <p>They noted that they would also be “more stringent in evaluating all aspects of our brand” and that they were “committed to involving more diverse stakeholder groups in our decision making process”. </p> <p>That they hadn’t already in 2023 was a sore point for some, while others opted just to be glad they claimed to be “committed to making it right.” </p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Please read for an update. <a href="https://t.co/OQTSvHuDV4">pic.twitter.com/OQTSvHuDV4</a></p> <p>— Experience Regina (@ExpRegina) <a href="https://twitter.com/ExpRegina/status/1637987662882643970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 21, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p><em>Images: 22Fresh / Instagram</em></p>

Travel Trouble

Placeholder Content Image

Two-time Big Brother winner's tragic health news

<p dir="ltr">TV personality Reggie Bird, who won <em>Big Brother</em> twice, has taken to social media to share tragic news.</p> <p dir="ltr">The 48-year-old told her thousands of followers that she had recently been diagnosed with Usher syndrome, a condition that affects sight and hearing.</p> <p dir="ltr">Bird was first declared legally blind in 2008 following her diagnosis with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), and has now shared news that she said was “the worst thing you could have”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s not what I wanted to hear,” Bird said in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ReggieBirdBB/videos/1343107059766143" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a video</a> shared online, with clips showing her in an interview and in August when she received her diagnosis.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m gonna find out today what my link is for my RP. I had my DNA taken 13 years ago and it’s just been found what the genetic link will be,” she explains in the clip.</p> <p dir="ltr">After being told that she has Ushers syndrome, Bird fought back tears.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s the worst thing that you could have. I’m going to be deaf-blind.”</p> <p dir="ltr">According to <a href="https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15046-usher-syndrome" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cleveland Clinic</a>, Ushers syndrome is a genetic condition that causes varying degrees of hearing and vision loss, as well as balance issues in some cases.</p> <p dir="ltr">After shooting to stardom following her 2003 win, Bird’s condition worsened. In 2014, she revealed that she had no peripheral vision and that her field of vision had become constricted to only 10 degrees.</p> <p dir="ltr">Earlier this year, she made her return to TV on <em>Big Brother</em>’s ‘Contenders vs Royalty’ season and won once again, taking home another $250,000 in prize money.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m honestly so proud of myself for going in and doing what I did and having a go,” Bird said after her second win.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I just wanted to show people who do live with disabilities that you can get out there and achieve anything that you put your mind to.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m so proud to represent people with a disability.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Since making her announcement, Bird took to social media again to thank fans for their support.</p> <p dir="ltr">“A s**t announcement really, finding out that I’ve got Ushers syndrome,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“But, you know, life goes on and you’ve gotta make the most of each day and I’m gonna have so fun and I’m gonna get fit again.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Love you all, and thank you for listening.”</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-88f8e8f9-7fff-c001-ea9b-91664656d60e"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @reggiebirdbb (Instagram)</em></p>

Caring

Placeholder Content Image

Serial killer too dangerous to set free

<p>Known as the ‘Cowboy killer,’ Regina Arthurell will be supervised for another two years after a Supreme Court judge found it would be far too dangerous to set her free.</p> <p>Arthurell was jailed and served almost 24 years behind bars as Reginald Arthurell but recently she’s transitioned to a woman.</p> <p>Arthurell was sentenced to jail for bashing to death her fiancée, Venet Mulhall, at Coonabarabran in 1995. At the time, Arthurell was on parole for killing her stepfather and a sailor in the 1970s and '80s.</p> <p>As Arthurell came to the end of her sentence, she underwent a hearing and Justice Richard Button ruled: "In light of the established pattern of fatal harm being repeatedly inflicted by the defendant that began approaching 50 years ago, for her to be completely at liberty in the community would simply be far too dangerous."</p> <p>The state was seeking a three-year order but was granted two years.</p> <p>This judgement was made despite the fact Arthurell is now 75 years old and in poor physical health.</p> <p>"A frail, even physically disabled, person can inflict fatal harm once armed with a weapon," Justice Button said.</p> <p>Arthurell will be subject to 47 conditions, which include electronic monitoring and alcohol rehabilitation.</p> <p>"The defendant, as I have said, is leading a very difficult, lonely life," Justice Button said, adding: "It is not unrealistic to think that she might begin to seek solace in alcohol, with potentially disastrous consequences."</p> <p><em>Image: Twitter</em></p>

Legal

Our Partners