A woman in the rain, wearing a strapless dress and clutching something close to her chest

The  team at Rape Crisis are upset with a London taxi company. Why – Data Cars distributed 200,000 postcards showing  a woman in the rain, wearing a strapless dress and clutching something close to her chest while she looks very unhappy.

Rape Crisis claim that while the image doesn’t explicitly depict a sexual assault, that association is easily conjured up by the fact the woman is showing so much bare skin and clutching clothes in her arms.

Do you find this ad offensive? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

There are less obtuse ways of explaining the concept of a “rainstorm” in an advertisement, Data Cars. Because this one is looking a liiiiitle rapey, according to some anti-rape activists.

The London taxi company distributed 200,000 postcards which depicted this image — a woman in the rain, wearing a strapless dress and clutching something close to her chest while she looks unhappy — around London. You should look just as great coming home as you did going out so don’t gamble on the weather — get a Data Cars mini cab!”

But given the number of double- and triple-takes some people have had looking at the woman in the ad, it’s also possible that “women are vulnerable to attack!” is an association Data Cars also want to put in customers’ minds.

Data Cars ad campaign’s use of vulnerable woman image criticised by rape charity http://t.co/p39aDhsE3X via @MailOnline

— Entrailles de Mlle (@Entrailles) August 14, 2013

Katie Russell from Rape Crisis said: “This is a really unfortunate and misguided piece of advertising.

“The best case scenario, giving the company the benefit of the doubt, is that they’re not aware of the associations that the image on this postcard conjures.

“The worst case scenario is that they’ve knowingly used scare-mongering, sexist and victim-blaming imagery and messaging in a cynical marketing ploy.”

Do you find this ad offensive? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.