 AshleyMadison.com, a website that actively encourages adultery, has threatened a lawsuit over a cancelled TTC ad. (Photo courtesy of Ashley Madison)
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TORONTO -- The breakup between Ashley Madison and the TTC is about to get messier.
Avid Life Media, the Toronto company that runs the dating website that hooks up married people, is looking to sue the transit commission after its streetcar ad was rejected by a TTC review panel on Friday.
The company says if the TTC doesn't apologize, it should get ready to be served.
"I never received an apology and they're flat-out wrong with how they're behaving with a potential advertiser," Ashley Madison CEO Noel Biderman said yesterday.
"We can bring a lawsuit right now. You know how much that's going to cost and how much time that's going to take? Once again, that's just going to harm the citizens of Toronto. They believe their committee is the end-all-be-all instead of the Charter of Rights and Freedom, which precedes anything they do."
What are you feelings on racy advertising?
The ad, which wraps an entire streetcar-length and says, "Life is short. Have an affair," was given the red light because the TTC didn't feel it complied with community standards, despite claims that its ad agency CBS Outdoor had already brokered a deal with Ashley Madison.
But the company's general counsel Ronan Levy said trumping the ad infringes on the company's right to free speech and cites a British Columbia case in July where BC Transit rejected political ads that the Canadian Federation of Students wished to run.
The court sided with the students because BC Transit is a "quasi-government institution" and they were infringing on the federation's right to freedom of expression.
"It's virtually identical with the TTC," Levy said.
"As distasteful as some people find Ashley Madison's ads, ultimately there's nothing overtly offensive. There's no nudity, there's no swearing, it just encourages infidelity."
The TTC said it's ready to fight back.
"We will be quite prepared to take up any legal challenges that come up before us ," TTC vice-chairman Joe Mihevc said yesterday.
"They're trying to get even more media attention on the story that should've had one day's legs. We're ready to defend our right to determine what ads go onto our brand as the TTC."
"The problem with Joe Mihevc is he's got massive egg on his face," Biderman said. "He's once again marginalizing the freedom of expression that Canadians tolerate and expect. He's just clueless."
JENNY.YUEN@SUNMEDIA.CA
