Geelong Rural told to pull risqué bus advertising campaign from McHarry’s buses

A Geelong farm equipment business has been forced to pull its saucy advertising from local buses but its owner has vowed not to let detractors stop her selling tractors.

Geelong Rural owner Amanda Davies has been asked to take down her ads on the back of buses, which feature funny puns and innuendo. Picture: Alison Wynd

A series of innuendo-filled farm equipment ads doing laps of Geelong have been put out to pasture, after being deemed inappropriate.

Tractor dealer Geelong Rural has been running an advertising campaign on the back of Geelong buses for the past six months.

The eye-catching ads feature puns, double entendres and innuendo, such as “I go both ways’, accompanied by a tractor that can also reverse.

For owner Amanda Davies it’s just a bit of fun to brighten a commuter’s day and give people something to smile about as they sit in traffic.

“It was just something lighthearted,” she said.

“We want people to look at it because it spreads the name, but most people would have looked at it, read the pun, had a laugh and still don’t even know the business name.”

A series of raunchy bus ads by Geelong Rural have to go, after McHarry's asked to replace them. Picture: Supplied

The feedback the business received had been overwhelmingly positive, Mrs Davies said.

“A lot of people sent us messages when the buses first came out, thanking us for bringing a morning laugh or an afternoon giggle,” she said.

“Not one comment was negative.”

However, over the weekend Mrs Davies, who has garnered more than 100,000 followers on Instagram as the Tractor Lady, revealed the striking advertisements would be shelved and she had been told to remove the ads within a fortnight.

Mrs Davies said thought was put into each slogan.

A series of raunchy bus ads by Geelong Rural have to go, after McHarry's asked to replace them. Picture: Supplied

“Each line or word that was used was related to the mechanical item we were advertising,” she said.

For example, Bad Boys is a genuine brand of ride-on-mowers based in America, while mowers themselves indeed have decks of varying sizes.

“We’re not lying and we’re not just throwing a word in there for no reason,” Mrs Davies said.

“They were used with context, they all had relation.”

She suggested those who found the advertisements offensive could “lighten up” and channel their energy towards positivity and “doing good in our community”.

“What kind of world are we living in where we can’t have a laugh anymore?” she said.

A series of raunchy bus ads by Geelong Rural have to go, after McHarry's asked to replace them. Picture: Supplied

However, it appears some have taken umbrage at the tongue-in-cheek advertisements, prompting McHarry’s Buslines to pull the ads.

McHarry’s Buslines general manager, David Doig, said the decision to pull the campaign was a company one, without the involvement of Public Transport Victoria.

“McHarry’s made the decision to remove the advertising, following feedback from the public and a review of the appropriateness of the ads in question,” he said.

Mrs Davies said she respected McHarry’s decision, and had gone back to the drawing board, with a new suite of bus signs already designed.

“I’m more than happy to take the (ads) down, and put new ones up that are bigger, bolder and brighter,” Mrs Davies said.

She said Geelong Rural’s objective was never to offend, but to bring attention to a small, family-run business in a difficult period time for farmers and rural communities.

“We’re just trying to have a laugh, just trying to survive,” she said.

Originally published as Geelong Rural told to pull risqué bus advertising campaign from McHarry’s buses