- Title: Hog-tied Trump impersonator in athletic brand's ad campaign in Times Square
- Date: 21st October 2019
- Summary: PORTLAND, OREGON, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 21, 2019) (REUTERS VIA SKYPE) (SOUNDBITE) (English) DHVANI CO-FOUNDER & CEO, AVI BROWN, SAYING: "Absolutely, well, we're obviously expressing our First Amendment rights, our right to freedom of speech, by putting these images out there. These images are purely symbolic. We absolutely do not encourage or condone any type of violence whatsoever. Some of the symbols are quite obvious. For example, there's an image where beautiful, diverse, empowered women are taping his mouth shut. I think it's very clear what we're saying here. He's put a gag rule on doctors and nurses, telling them what they can or cannot say unilaterally, even though the federal court rejected it. We're saying put a gag rule on him."
- Embargoed: 4th November 2019 19:58
- Keywords: U.S. President Donald Trump Dhvani athletic wear advertising political message activism
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, + PORTLAND, OREGON, UNITED STATES / UNKNOWN LOCATIONS / INTERNET
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, + PORTLAND, OREGON, UNITED STATES / UNKNOWN LOCATIONS / INTERNET
- Country: USA
- Topics: Company News Markets,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA006B21K8CN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: PROFANITY IN LINE 11 AND IN SCRIPT
For the past few days, tourists and locals in New York City's Times Square could have seen a new, 30-foot billboard depicting U.S. President Donald Trump hog-tied by a woman.
The billboard is part of an advertising campaign for Dhvani, a small athletic wear brand, based in Portland, Oregon, that sells $58 yoga pants and $48 bras.
Dhvani's Co-Founder and CEO, Avi Brown, told Reuters in a Skype interview on Monday (October 21) that the photograph shows a Trump impersonator, and a model, Michal Mesa, also Marine Corps veteran and middle school teacher, who embodies Lady Liberty with a lasso of truth inspired by Wonder Woman.
"It's red, white and blue, and it represents truth, justice, and and the rule of law," Brown said. "And the reason that it's wrapped around the person, that obviously evokes the idea of Trump, is we believe that the current administration is espousing tremendous lies, and it's time for the truth, and it's time for the people to be represented again."
Brown said Dhvani wanted to make political statements about giving a voice to women, abortion, free speech, and personal freedom with its campaign.
"The images in our campaign are symbolic," Brown said. "It's very important that people understand that we in no way condone any type of violence."
The Times Square ad got attention of President Trump's older son, Donald Junior, who tweeted: "Hey @NYTimes and MSM. Since you had time to thoroughly cover a stupid and tasteless meme seen by 8 people with incredible outrage, I figured you should dedicate the same time and outrage to THIS BILLBOARD IN TIMES SQUARE you hypocrites! Unless of course you're just full of shit."
Brown said the current campaign is just the beginning of many more political statments coming from Dhvani.
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