Lion Breweries, Keep Yer Back to the Billboard, Boy

In Auckland, this billboard can be seen in the heart of the Grey Lynn/Ponsonby district, just before the Williamson Ave. intersection. Featuring the two southern men complete with akrubas and drisabone coats from Speight's television commercials, the young bloke says, "Interesting part of town," and the older one replies, "Keep your back to the billboard, boy."

The joke is the idea of male rape, with gay men being painted as the predatory rapists. It echoes the unkindly old expression, "Backs to the wall - faggots on the crawl."

According to GayNZ.com, Doug Paulin, the mainstream brands director at Speight's distributor Lion Breweries, dismisses anti-gay references. He explains, "This is in reference to a southern man's tips for keeping your eyes peeled and being aware when you come to a big city. A country man's first visit to the city can be an intimidating thing and this billboard just jokes about them keeping their eyes open for any trouble. It's a survival technique - the southern man would rather have a wall behind him, so that any potential trouble comes from the front."

He denies that any gay reference should be taken.

Paulin also says there was no reason for this billboard to be placed in the Grey Lynn/Ponsonby area, as it was one of seven billboard sites in the Auckland CBD featuring different, rotating messages. The "back to the billboard" wording also appears in other locations around the country, including Wakefield St. in Wellington.

Some of the billboards are location specific, but Paulin insists that most could be put anywhere.

In another recent gay-themed example, Fagg's coffee argued that an ad campaign reading "Not as Ponsonby as the name suggests - Fagg's, the great straight coffee" also had no gay connotations.

Ironically, although Wakefield St. in Wellington is not a particularly gay area, a Speight's billboard is right next to one for Fagg's.