Perth brothel told to remove ad because of the placement of a feather boa
Mackenzies of Perth captured on Google Street View
Outdoor ads for escort company Mackenzies of Perth have fallen foul of the ad watchdog over the positioning of a feather boa between the woman’s legs in one of the ads which the board ruled was “exploitative and degrading”.
The outdoor ads featured two different images of women in lingerie placed in upper windows of a building. In one of the images the woman is on all fours looking at the camera with her head titled to one side while the other is of a woman on her back with her bottom raised and a feather boa between her legs.
A complaint to the Ad Standards Board (ASB) described the ads as “pornography displayed so publicly on the major highway” adding they could be seen by children and: “I wholeheartedly object to the message of woman as sex objects.
“I believe we should have freedom with our visual choices. Freedom from visual pollution which in turn causes moral pollution. These pictures remove all our choices. I’ve seen them before I can avert my eyes and then the damage is done. My 15 year old daughter pointed the pictures out to me and said she hated them and asked me to do something. The thoughts associated are not pure i.e marital love.”
The offending images
MacKenzies of Perth did not respond to the complaint, which was noted in the ASB’s ruling.
In its decision the board “noted that in order to be a breach of this section of the Code the image would need to use sexual appeal in a manner which is both exploitative and degrading” and while “some members of the community would consider the use of a woman in lingerie to be exploitative” it was the board’s view that “the image does have relevance to the product advertised” and the pose of the first woman is not degrading.
In assessing the second image a minority of the board considered the image “was in keeping with the first image and was not degrading in the context of the product being advertised”.
However, the majority of the board considered “the use of the feather boa between the woman’s legs was clearly intended to draw the viewer’s attention to this part of the woman’s body in a manner which is both exploitative and degrading”. Consequently, the board ruled the ad “did employ sexual appeal in a manner which is exploitative and degrading”, upholding the complaint.
The board also noted the images can be viewed by a broad audience which would include children, however ruled the first image’s level of nudity was not inappropriate and considered it “mildly sexualised but not inappropriate for an outdoor advertisement where children could see it”.
But it decided the second ad was “highly sexualised and the use of the feather boa between her legs highlights a part of her body in a sexual manner which is inappropriate for an outdoor advertisement which can be viewed by children”.
The board ruled that the “advertisement did not treat the issue of sex, sexuality and nudity with sensitivity to the relevant audience”, upholding the complaint.
Miranda Ward
Miranda Ward worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2017, eventually becoming deputy editor. Miranda joined Mumbrella in September 2013 from Sky News.
Linkedin
Some people are so sensitive. One look and “the damage is done”. Fucking prudes.
User ID not verified.