A Vodafone Live poll which asked cellphone customers to choose between three homophobic alternate titles for the gay cowboy romance Brokeback Mountain was in poor taste, says the company. Vodafone spokesperson Leigh Owens says the poll was authored by one of its independent third-party content providers, and it was unaware of the content until contacted earlier this week by a journalist from TV3's Nightline programme. Owens says that in future checking procedures for Vodafone Live content will be tightened up. "When it was brought to our attention we were quite shocked by it," she told GayNZ.com. "When the journalist read those options out to me, I thought it's not one of those things you sit there and think, is it offensive? It was absolutely. I can see anyone, whether gay or not, being offended by it." The options customers were given to choose from where Homos on Horseback, Easy Riders, and Saddle Sore. Although the poll's author was gay, Owens says they don't consider that relevant. "It was a bad case of very bad judgment... ultimately Vodafone do accept responsibility, and we do need to ensure that we act as a gatekeeper to censor the content that goes out to our customers." The company already has content policies in place that are meant to ensure that topics of race, gender, or sexual orientation are steered clear of. "We pride ourselves on working within those standards, and this poll was definitely in breach of them," Owens says. "We apologise unreservedly to our customers."
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Thursday, 2nd February 2006 - 12:00pm