A series of online videos and offline poster featuring the pulchritudinous Lucy Pinder have been banned by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority because they are thought to be sexually suggestive, indecent, provocative, glamorize casual sex and objectify women. In addition, the campaign was said to be irresponsible since it was placed in locations where it could be seen by children.
In the videos, which are still all over YouTube, Pinder can be seen washing a car, jogging, playing with a light sabre, cheering and generally prancing about while scantily clad. The videos and poster campaign are accompanied by such taglines as, “Play with Lucy,” What will she do to make you lose control” and “Put premature perspiration to the test.”
Offering up a bit of defense, Lynx said the campaign is simply what the target, young men “come to expect, and were comfortable with the typical narrative, tone and content seen in advertising for the brand” and in relation to beach-based ads, “she [the model in the ad] was not undressed to an extent that would be in any way unusual in that location.”
Of the campaign’s banned status, the ASA said, “We considered that the suggestive nature of the image and the strong innuendo were not acceptable for public display where they might be seen by children and concluded that the poster was irresponsible on this point.”
Apart from the fact most women don’t cook a turkey while wearing lingerie or prance down the beach to shower with 300 of their hottest, bikini-clad friends or fall from the sky as angels to serve the needs of men or run through the woods with 999,999,999 of their closets bikini-clad friends or model for a website that let’s you rub a sponge all over them with your mouse or bash boys while bathing in a bathtub, this campaign is totally normal, right?
Hey, offense is in the eye of the beholder. While some may love these ads and believe them to be harmless, frivolous fun, there are plenty of others out there who think women should never show their sexuality for the entertainment of men. To each their own. But for the latter, it’s going to be an uphill battle.
