Sexy ad upsets Aussies

An American Apparel model from the company's website.

A sexually provocative ad campaign for a clothing company co-owned by Rich Lister Eric Watson is under fire for being too "pornographic".

The Australian television ads for American Apparel feature half-naked women, many of them staff from the Melbourne store, writhing around in bed and exposing their breasts.

The ad is under investigation by the Advertising Standards Bureau in Australia.

Professor Clive Hamilton, former chief of an organisation that researched the use of sexual images in advertising, told a Melbourne newspaper it "clearly" used "pornographic-style images, pornographic-style poses ... to promote the product".

Watson and American Apparel did not return calls.

Hillary Souter, executive director of New Zealand's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), said ads were assessed by the Television Commercial Approvals Bureau before going to air here.

Bureau managing director Rob Hoar said it was unlikely to be allowed here.

"We have a 'no nipples' rule that has developed over the last decade or so, so it probably wouldn't be approved if there are bare breasts."

Complaints about ads that make it to air are assessed under the ASA's People in Advertising Code.

The relevant section says ads cannot use "sexual appeal simply to draw attention to an unrelated product".

Souter said that since 2006, complaints about 91 TV, radio and billboard ads have been assessed under the rule, with 27 upheld.

Last month the authority investigated complaints about a TV ad for Calvin Klein Jeans that showed a male and female, bare from the waist up, kissing each other and touching intimately.

The complainants said the ad screened at an inappropriate time, when children were watching. Sky TV said that was down to human error and apologised.

Also last month, complaints about a billboard ad for a store selling sex toys was settled after people complained it was offensive to Catholics.

The ad showed four people kneeling in prayer in a church with one woman smiling. Complainants said a caption referring to one of the company's products drew comparisons with rosary beads and the company amended the ad.

In May, Coca-Cola withdrew two ads following complaints. One featured a man and woman talking about whipped cream and chocolate in a sexual context, and the other contained images of women in bikinis dancing around a Coke bottle.

Souter said many complaints to the ASA are about sexual content or images that degrade women.

A 2007 Burger King campaign featuring bikini-clad women riding horses and showering in a fountain had generated the most interest in recent years. Complaints about two of the three ads in the campaign were upheld.

"People often express concerns about these sorts of ads, especially if it is reaching people outside its target audience or is out of context to the product it is selling," Souter said.

"Context is usually the big issue - is it screening during Desperate Housewives or something like Mitre 10 Dream Home?

"Billboards are a big problem because they don't have that ability to target a specific audience. Everyone can see it."

In contrast, complaints about an ad for Cadbury Moro bars that included a three-second clip of horses having sex were this week rejected by the ASA, which said the footage was not explicit.