York Region’s public health department has axed an anti-drinking ad campaign targeting young women after it unleashed a firestorm of angry feedback.

“How on earth was this campaign approved?” Claire van Nierop tweeted. “Paying for ads shaming young women and victim-blaming.”

In mid-August, posters warning women it takes them less alcohol to get drunk than men were posted in female washrooms at York University and in Toronto restaurants and bars.

The ad campaign was timed to coincide with frosh week and the return of students to post-secondary school, said Ann Ramkay, acting director of the healthy living division with the region’s public health department.

The condemnation was swift, beginning Aug. 24 on social media, with critics saying the ads were insulting and “paternalistic”.

“Don’t try to keep up with the guys,” the posters read. A young woman is shown looking dismayed at cellphone photos of her involved in a night of heavy partying.

“It’s not just about keeping an eye on your drink, but how much you drink,” the ad reads.

“Hey @ YorkRegionGovt what's up with the sexist ads in @ cityoftoronto bars? So women don't get raped or roofied they are just drunks?” Shannon Hunter posted on Twitter.

“It's in the bathroom, women often ask friends to watch their drink while they go to the washroom so they can feel safe that nothing will be put in their drink," Hunter elaborated on Facebook. "This is condescending crap that assumes women are unintelligent and incapable of making smart choices, it's also victim blaming — because watch your drink and your consumption or get raped.”

“The take-away of this 'advertisement': Men are better at drinking, women aren't as good. So maybe you should watch your drink because bad things will happen, and it'll be your fault because we told you this on this sign,” Amanda Lynne Ballard commented.