No punishment for Puig perfume ad after complaints over sexual images is rejected
The ad centres on a ‘Private Party’ in which various people are seen socialising. A woman is shown from behind, apparently topless, facing a large stuffed polar bear. Another woman is shown, again from behind, throwing open her coat causing a shocked reaction from another woman standing in front of her.
Complaints of the advert stressed that it was offensive and inappropriate for broadcast at a time when children might be watching.
Content typical of genre
However, Puig UK rejected these claims, maintaining that the advert was created in line with the overall brand concept of the fragrance’s tag line, ‘Are you on the list?’
“[We]believed the ad would not in any way cause serious or widespread offence and that the levels of nudity were of the kind expected in other ads for fragrance or shower products and were not inappropriate for broadcast around programmes which children would be likely to be watching,” said a Puig statement.
Advertising regulator Clearcast agreed with the Puig defence and stated that the content was typical of its genre.
“Within this surreal party there were some slightly risqué elements but [we] believe it is commonplace in perfume ads to include artistic shots of provocatively dressed women,” commented Clearcast.
Within expectations of a perfume ad
It also agreed with Puig that ads for shower products often included more flesh and believed the woman seen with the polar bear was sensual, but not overtly sexual.
The Advertising Standards Authority concluded likewise, stating that the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence and that a timing restriction to prevent the ad from being broadcast at a time when children were likely to be watching was unnecessary.
“Although we understood that some viewers may have been uncomfortable with the innuendo presented in the ad, we considered that the black and white images provided a stylised image of a modern, slightly fantastical, party scene and that any partial nudity was fleeting,” said ASA.
“We considered that the brief images of the women were not presented in an excessively sexual or provocative way and that the content was likely to be in line with most viewers' expectations of a perfume ad.”
