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Too sexy, too violent or plain offensive: 20 ads banned in the UK

Are you offended?

19/02/12 19,583 Views 17 Comments

THE UK’S SEEMINGLY easy-to-offend Advertising Standards Authority recently deemed Ryanair’s flight-attendants-in-their-underwear calendar campaign too offensive for public consumption.

The ASA pulled the plug on the airline’s newspaper ad which features underwear-clad staffers pose under the headline, “RED HOT FARES & CREW”. It had received just 17 complaints and the Jezebel blog noted, “meh, I’ve seen worse”.

The watchdog examines between ten to 15 ads each week and it only takes one complaint for an ad to be axed.

Here are 20 of the sexy/violent/offensive ads that have been banned in the UK:

Too sexy, too violent or plain offensive: 20 ads banned in the UK
1 / 20

  • Ryanair

    The calendar that accompanied the newspaper ad campaign. The ASA noted that although the images were “not overtly sexual in content, the appearance, stance and gaze of the women, particular the one in ad (a) [The Guardian ad], who was shown pulling her pants slightly down, were likely to be seen as sexually suggestive”.

  • Drop Dead

    This online ad for clothing line Drop Dead was banned in November last year after the ASA received one complaint about the model's weight. It said the company was "socially irresponsible" for portraying an image of a girl with "hollows in her thighs" and highly visible ribs and collar bones.

  • Lynx

    Lynx is renowned for its sexually suggestive ads. But seemingly this one went too far. "Sexually suggestive, indecent and provocative," shouted the ASA.

  • Marc Jacobs

    This sad for Marc Jacobs' perfume Oh, Lola! was banned last November for sexualising a child. The girl in the ad is 17-year-old actress Dakota Fanning.

  • Miu Miu

    Again in November 2011, the ASA pulled Hailee Steinfeld's Miu Miu from circulation as it depicted a child in an unsafe position.

  • Israel

    This print ad was banned in June 2009 after a complaint was received that "challenged whether the ad misleadingly implied that East Jerusalem was part of the State of Israel".

  • Palestine

    Following the ban of the Israeli ad, the ASA banned an ad for Palestinian tourism in December for showing the entire country of Israel as a part of Palestine.

  • Apple

    The ASA has banned two separate Apple commercials from airing in the UK. In 2004 the Power Mac G5 made unsubstantiated claims of being "the world's fastest personal computer" and in 2008, an iPhone commercial was banned for saying that it could access "all of the internet" even though it couldn't support Flash. Image: ChinaFotoPress/Photocome/Press Association Images

  • l'Oreal

    "Misleading exaggerated" is what the ASA called Rachel Weisz' ad for the cosmetics company.

  • L'Oreal - Repeat Offenders

    Julia Roberts plus excessive photoshopping = BANNED

  • Olay

    Twiggy. Photoshopping. Excessive. We can see a theme here.

  • Yves Saint Laurent

    The ASA said that YSL's Belle D'Opium ad simulated drug use.

  • YSL - Repeat Offenders

    Apparently the folks at Yves Saint Laurent didn't learn their lesson from this banned ad which received 730 complaints in 2000.

  • Beyonce Heat

    Heat by name, hot by nature? Beyonce's perfume ad was banned last May for being too sexy.

  • Phones4U

    In September 2011, the ASA received 100 complaints that this mobile phone ad "mocked and belittled" the Christian faith.

  • Tesco

    Bizarrely, this ad for Tesco Sausage was banned because it featured pigs roaming in a field. Complaints were received about it being misleading because some of Tesco's pigs are bred indoors. This farm is actually a Tesco supplier. Go figure!

  • Final Destination 5

    Three children were scared by this poster so the ad was banned. We're more concerned that they made a Final Destination 5 (FIVE!)

  • Boobs

    This ad for same-day cosmetic surgery was banned in December because it "conveyed the message that breast surgery was a straightforward, risk-free lifestyle decision" for young, impressionable girls. The ASA had received 10 complaints.

  • Diesel

    Even though Diesel's "Be Stupid" ad campaign was awarded a Grand Prix Lion in the prestigious Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, the ASA banned the series of ads in May 2011 for being indecent.

  • Newspaper Marketing Agency

    Offensive, sexist and condoning violence - the ASA's take on the NMA's Killer Heels ad.
  • The calendar that accompanied the newspaper ad campaign. The ASA noted that although the images were “not overtly sexual in content, the appearance, stance and gaze of the women, particular the one in ad (a) [The Guardian ad], who was shown pulling her pants slightly down, were likely to be seen as sexually suggestive”.
  • This online ad for clothing line Drop Dead was banned in November last year after the ASA received one complaint about the model's weight. It said the company was
  • Lynx is renowned for its sexually suggestive ads. But seemingly this one went too far.
  • This sad for Marc Jacobs' perfume Oh, Lola! was banned last November for sexualising a child. The girl in the ad is 17-year-old actress Dakota Fanning.
  • Again in November 2011, the ASA pulled Hailee Steinfeld's Miu Miu from circulation as it depicted a child in an unsafe position.
  • This print ad was banned in June 2009 after a complaint was received that
  • Following the ban of the Israeli ad, the ASA banned an ad for Palestinian tourism in December for showing the entire country of Israel as a part of Palestine.
  • The ASA has banned two separate Apple commercials from airing in the UK. In 2004 the Power Mac G5 made unsubstantiated claims of being
  • Julia Roberts plus excessive photoshopping = BANNED
  • Twiggy. Photoshopping. Excessive. We can see a theme here.
  • The ASA said that YSL's Belle D'Opium ad simulated drug use.
  • Apparently the folks at Yves Saint Laurent didn't learn their lesson from this banned ad which received 730 complaints in 2000.
  • Heat by name, hot by nature? Beyonce's perfume ad was banned last May for being too sexy.
  • In September 2011, the ASA received 100 complaints that this mobile phone ad
  • Bizarrely, this ad for Tesco Sausage was banned because it featured pigs roaming in a field. Complaints were received about it being misleading because some of Tesco's pigs are bred indoors. This farm is actually a Tesco supplier. Go figure!
  • Three children were scared by this poster so the ad was banned. We're more concerned that they made a Final Destination 5 (FIVE!)
  • This ad for same-day cosmetic surgery was banned in December because it
  • Even though Diesel's
  • Offensive, sexist and condoning violence - the ASA's take on the NMA's Killer Heels ad.

-Additional reporting by Sinéad O’Carroll

More: Ryanair rapped over ‘sexist’ newspaper ads for cabin crew calendar>

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