The cover of the 2014 Chicago Taxi Driver Calendar gives the impression that you're in for 12 more photos of attractive women representing each month of the year. But that's not quite the case.
The spoof calendar is comprised of 12 male Chicago cabbies mimicking sexy poses. Cab driver Melissa Callahan came up with the idea to raise money for Cab Drivers for Justice, a group suing the City of Chicago for what they claim is mistreatment and exploitation.
"We've done other things like going cab to cab and asking for donations, and they've given, but that's an exhausting way to raise money. This seems like a better way to go about it," said Callahan, who appears on the cover.
The calendars went on sale online last week at $15 each, but convincing the cab drivers to act like Victoria's Secrets models wasn't exactly easy.
"It was difficult to convince the drivers. I had to become very pushy to convince them. I had to tell one driver, 'Strip right now, take your clothes off now," Callahan said.
Other drivers brought their own ideas to the table, like the driver who posed with a Hawaiian shirt and red underwear.
"It was funny trying to give a cab driver instructors like 'arch your back.' He had no idea what I was talking about," Callahan said.
But the drivers' cause is no laughing matter. They're hoping to raise $30,000 to fund their case against the city, and if they sell all the calendars, they'll reach that goal.
Callahan calls the cab industry in the city a "scam," referencing the cost of the $350,000 medallions needed to operate, the myriad rules and regulations, and the $1,000 fines a driver can receive for customer complaints that she says are issued without fair due process.
"If they do it to us, they're gonna do it to other businesses, so one way to show your support is to fund this case," Callahan said. "People don't know about what we have to go through, so this is a way for the public to see another side of taxi drivers."
Even if it's a side we wish we could unsee.
