They have provoked complaints to Westfield and the Advertising Standards Authority, as well as a flood of protests on the Mumsnet website and the microblogging site Twitter.
The complaints centre on concerns that the images objectify women and are unsuitable for children.
Joey Abbis-Stubbs, 23, a charity worker from Westbourne Grove, London, wrote on the beyondretrograde blog: "The images are clearly not the subtle sexualized images which would pass over a child’s head, they are verging on explicit and I would be surprised if my complaint is the first.
"At a family friendly shopping centre, I am sure many parents would be upset to have their children exposed to such material whilst taking them to the newly opened indoor ice-skating rink."
Condemning the photographs as "blatant objectification of women", she added: "As well as offending parents and children, did Westfield not think that this sexually submissive and explicit advertising campaign would cause offence to its many female visitors?"
The "Shameless" campaign has also been condemned as "creepy and porno-like" by the US celebrity and fashion website Jezebel. "Wearing a snazzy suit most def gets you free upskirt peeks and kinky kitchen play, guys," it said.
The Advertising Standards Authority said it had received 10 complaints, but has referred them to Consumer Direct as it only deals with paid-for advertising space rather than commercial premises. The consumer rights watchdog refused to comment.
Suit Supply's reply to Miss Abbis-Stubbs's complaint stated: "Our campaign is called 'Shameless' and is shot by the renowned photographer Carli Hermès. In our opinion the photographs of the campaign are a well-balanced mix of style, humour and sex, the essence of fashion! We fully disagree that our campaign would be obscene and denigrating towards women. On the contrary, the women depicted in the photographs are obviously in the lead."
It is not the first time the Dutch fashion firm has launched a controversial campaign. Last year it received criticism for a "Start Smoking" campaign aimed at selling smoking jackets.
The Dutch advertising watchdog is investigating several complaints over a Suit Supply poster campaign in the Netherlands, and the company said it has had to remove several images from its Facebook page because they were "deemed offensive".
The advertisements will remain in the Westfield shop window until the end of the January sales.
via telegraph.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment