Ad featuring man grasping woman’s breast removed

Ashley Regan
By Ashley Regan | 29 May 2023
 
Getty

Australia's advertising complaints handling body Ad Standards has removed a print advertisement from natural oil manufacturer etto for having a strong sexual theme.

The print advertisement features a naked woman sitting on the lap of a naked man with their arms and hands covering her breasts and genitals. There are snakes curled around the woman's leg and the man's neck with text: "Australia can be a dangerous place."

The ad was investigated for potentially breaching AANA Code of Ethics' 2.2 exploitative or degrading and 2.4 sex/sexuality/nudity.

etto ad via ad standards

The complaint submitted to Ad Standards said: "I object to seeing young people in sexually provocative situations to sell a product."

In response, etto rejects the complaint and believes the advertisement took sex, sexuality and nudity with reverence and sensitivity.

"Both models in this image, Billie and Robbie, are consenting adults, and gave their permission for us to use these photographs. As professional models, they were paid accordingly for their work with rates set by them. The image is in no way exploitative. We don’t believe the image is degrading," etto said.

"We don’t sell clothes. Instead, the ads are depicting the natural state of the body to emphasise the natural, pure state of our products grown in nature.

"We don’t believe, and there was no intention, that this photo is sexual in nature. We fail to see how the female and male forms in their natural state, modestly and thoughtfully covered, need to be seen as sexual, provocative, or pornographic."

While the Ad Standards panel found the ad to contain sexual appeal, it found  that it did not exploit or degrade an individual or group of people (women), and as a result the ad did not breach Section 2.2 of the Code.

However, according to the definition of nudity in the Practice Note - “the depiction of a person without clothing or covering; partial or suggested nudity may also be considered nudity” - the advertisement did contain nudity. 

And the majority of the Panel believed that the model interactions - with the man grasping the woman’s breast and his other hand touching her upper inner thigh - "has a strong sexual theme suggestive of a prelude to sexual activity, the woman is not simply sitting on the man’s lap".

The majority of the Panel considered that such sexualised imagery is not appropriate for an audience of newspapers readers and the ad is in breach of Section 2.4 of the Code.

In response, etto said: "While we strongly disagree and are disappointed with the decision the Panel has reached on this ad, we do accept it and confirm that we have discontinued the advertisement in The Good Weekend."

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