Rear of the Year

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Rear of the Year
Awarded forCelebrities considered to have a notable posterior
CountryUnited Kingdom
Presented byRear of the Year Ltd.
First awarded1981
(one-off presentation in 1976)
Last awarded2019
WebsiteOfficial website[dead link]

Rear of the Year was a British award for celebrities who were considered to have attractive buttocks. It was created by publicity consultant Anthony Edwards[1] in 1976. Initially, it was awarded only to women, but in 1986 the first award was made to a man[2] and from 1997, it was awarded annually to one woman and one man.[3]

The award was organised by Rear of the Year Limited.[4] The last contest was held in 2019, and Rear of the Year Limited was dissolved as a company in 2021.[5]

History

Edwards initiated the award as a way to promote specific brands of jeans. Barbara Windsor won the first award in 1976,[2] which was presented as a one-off publicity stunt.[3] Five years later it became an annual event with Felicity Kendal receiving the honours.[6] The 1982 winner Suzi Quatro commented: "I’ve been told since I was about eight or nine that I had a nice ass... So, when I won the award, I was actually quite proud."[2] The singer Lulu, who won the 1983 award, was later asked by a journalist if she felt that she had been the subject of objectification when she won the award, and replied: 'I think you're taking this all much too seriously'.[7] On winning the award in 1985, Lynsey de Paul quipped "I would like to thank the organisers from the heart of my bottom".[8] In 1986, the award was presented to a man for the first time (Michael Barrymore)[2] and 1991 saw Marina Ogilvy, the daughter of Princess Alexandra, became the first royal recipient.[2] A male award was given to Richard Fairbrass in 1994[7] and from 1997 the male award became a regular part of the annual event.[3] The 2002 award to Charlotte Church attracted controversy as the winner had only recently turned 16 at the time.[9][10][11]

2010 winner Fiona Bruce accepted the award and participated in a photoshoot, happily posing for pictures in tight jeans.[12] However, she subsequently described the award as "the most hypocritical, ridiculous, ludicrous thing I’ve ever done."[2]

In 2014, Carol Vorderman became the first person to receive the award for a second time, joking: "I always suspected there were a lot of people out there who were glad to see the back of me. It now appears there were even more than I thought."[2]

The winners of the award were selected by public vote, a process that sometimes accrued popular campaigns for particular individuals. The winners were usually actors in soap operas, contestants in reality TV shows or pop stars.[2] Edwards has described the contest as "an excellent monitor of fashions in body shape".[2] In 2012 he declared that female rears were starting to slim down as more women took to the gym, jogging and keeping trim during that Olympic year.[citation needed] In 2018 he said that "the trend is towards a shapely, well-toned and, above all, proportionate rear".[2]

A number of businesses sponsored the award including manufacturers of beauty products, Cadbury[3] and Wizard Jeans.[7] By 2015 the award was reported to be generating a level of media coverage equivalent to £4 million (US$6 million) Advertising Value Equivalent.[7]

Award winners were given a commemorative plaque

Siân Lloyd described hers as "probably the weirdest photocall I’ve attended in my life",[2] while 2003 winner Natasha Hamilton said of seeing her pictures in the press: "I just didn’t like it. It seemed a little bit crass and seedy."[2]

Winners

Recipients included:[13]

Similar contests

  • Miss Bumbum is an annual contest in Brazil to choose the best female buttocks in the country.[15]

References

  1. ^ "About Us". Anthony Edwards Publicity. Archived from the original on 2009-10-05. Retrieved 2009-10-17.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Kale, Sirin (20 August 2018). "Behind the times? The strange, sad story of rear of the year". The Guardian.
  3. ^ a b c d e Langlois, Andre (23 July 2014). "Rear of the Year born out of 'joke with Barbara Windsor'". Surrey Live.
  4. ^ Rohwedder, Kristie (13 July 2015). "'HP' Characters React To D. Radcliffe's Butt Award". Bustle.
  5. ^ "Rear of the Year Ltd". GOV.UK. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  6. ^ Walker, Tim (8 June 2011). "Pippa Middleton should be proud to win 'rear of year', says Felicity Kendal". The Telegraph.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Crothers, Jen (21 October 2015). "Getting Deep Inside the Rear of the Year Award, a Cheeky British Institution". Vice.
  8. ^ "Lynsey de Paul - obituary". Daily Telegraph. 2 October 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  9. ^ "Rear of the Year Award for Charlotte Church, 16, Is Flattering but Distasteful; Teenagers: 'When a Child Is Celebrated as Sexy Something Doesn't Smell Quite Right'". Highbeam.com. 2 May 2002. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  10. ^ "Church 'sexually exploited', AM claims". BBC News. 7 May 2002. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  11. ^ Bain, Charlie (2 May 2002). "I do like my bum... but if I had won Rear of the Year three months ago it would have been seen as sick; Award for Charlotte, 16". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 26 March 2017 – via The Free Library.
  12. ^ Hutchinson, Peter (13 June 2011). "Fiona Bruce says Rear of the Year award was 'hypocritical and demeaning'". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
  13. ^ "Past Winners of Rear Of The Year Competition". Rear Of The Year Limited. Archived from the original on 7 April 2018. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  14. ^ "Cambridge University students criticised for naked Rear of the Year competition". The Telegraph. 12 November 2013.
  15. ^ Moreno, Carolina (11 August 2014). "Miss Bumbum 2014 Contestants Hope To Have Brazil's Best Butt". The Huffington Post.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rear_of_the_Year&oldid=1216535841"