City Newspaper Archives - 5/2008
MEDIA: Guess they were out of flowers
Published by Christine Carrie Fien on May 15, 2008
Happy belated Mother's Day from Gannett, which chose to celebrate mothers everywhere by proclaiming five lucky Rochester women MILF - Moms I'd Like to F***.
The story in the May 9 Insider - a D&C tabloid aimed at the young audience - is a short, fluffy Q&A with each woman. The questions are insipid, but fine - "Who's the better dancer, you or your son?"
But then there's that cover.
A babe in a white tank smiles blandly for the camera, alongside the headline "got milf?" Putting aside the puzzling construction -- is the writer asking me if I've got a mom he'd like to f***? Not on your best day, sir. Big Rose would eat you alive.
The headline is a play on the "got milk?" ad campaign, of course. More evidence is the slight white substance covering the model's upper lip. (Although, given the headline, we wonder if the substance is something a little less... well, digestible than milk. Shaving cream? Nair? Guess again.)
The five featured women are pictured with their very photogenic children, who, we're sure, will be so proud one day to tell classmates that, in addition to making the best chocolate-chip pancakes on the block, their mother was also crowned a Top 5 f*** by the Insider.
This from the company whose daily editorial page frequently rails against gangsta rap, video games, and the coarsening of US culture.
In a phone call last week, Insider Editor Mike Johansson wouldn't say the expression out loud. He got as far as "Mothers I'd Like to..." and then said he's not comfortable saying that last word.
"Although, for our target audience, it's a term they're quite familiar with," he said. Besides, he said he doesn't think the expression is used that way anymore.
Article Photos
The May 9, 2008, issue of the Insider named five Rochester women "MILF," Moms I'd Like to F***. Photo by Matt DeTurck.
