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Women Against Violence vs. The Rolling Stones

In 1976, the Rolling Stones didn’t need a U.S. tour to cause an earthquake—they just needed a billboard. What followed was one of the most explosive clashes between rock marketing and feminist activism of the decade. The Black and Blue ad campaign, shocking by design, crossed a line for many and sparked a nationwide backlash that refused to fade quietly. Women Against Violence Against Women turned outrage into action, launching a boycott that challenged not just the Stones, but the entire music industry’s visual language. This wasn’t a footnote controversy—it was a cultural confrontation that forced real change. Dive into the story where shock met resistance, and rock ’n’ roll met accountability.

A group called Women Against Violence Against Women organized a boycott of Warner Communications releases on April 21, 1976, in protest against the album cover and promotional imagery used for Black and Blue. The group argued that the campaign glamorized violence and sent a harmful message. After three years of sustained pressure, the boycott was lifted following an agreement that allowed representatives of the organization to meet directly with Warner Bros. Records’ art and marketing teams to discuss and review the approach to future album covers and advertising materials.

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Shock and Strategy: The Rolling Stones’ Provocative 1976 Ad Campaign

In the summer of 1976, controversy hit American streets—not through a tour, but via a bold and unsettling image on a Sunset Boulevard billboard. The Rolling Stones’ Black and Blue album, released in April of that year, didn’t come with a U.S. tour, but its promotional campaign stirred headlines nonetheless.

The centerpiece? A striking visual of model Anita Russell, bound with rope and posed on an opened LP copy, her makeup giving the impression of bruises. Below her, in large provocative lettering, read the slogan: “I’m ‘Black and Blue’ from the Rolling Stones – and I love it!” The imagery wasn’t limited to L.A.’s skyline. A similar ad ran in the July 1 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, igniting heated backlash across the country. Though the band never set foot onstage, they managed to shake up the American cultural landscape with an audacious mix of art, scandal, and rock ‘n’ roll defiance.

Amplified Outrage: The Feminist Uproar Over the Stones’ 1976 Ad Campaign

In the August 1976 issue of a newsletter published by the Houston-based feminist organization Breakthrough, Julie London, the Los Angeles coordinator of the newly formed coalition Women Against Violence Against Women (WAVAW), delivered a sharply worded condemnation of the Rolling Stones’ Black and Blue ad campaign. “This campaign exploits and sensationalizes violence against a woman for the purpose of increased record sales,” she wrote, capturing the anger and dismay that many feminists felt at the time. “The ad contributes to the myth that women like to be beaten and condones a permissive attitude towards the brutalization of women.”

London’s statement wasn’t just a critique—it was a call to action. WAVAW, still in its infancy, quickly mobilized around the controversy, organizing protests, raising public awareness, and urging record companies to reconsider how they marketed their artists. The Stones’ ad inadvertently became a catalyst for a larger conversation about gender, media, and accountability, helping energize a growing feminist movement that refused to stay silent.

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