Calvin Klein "Naked Glamour" ad not banned by ASA
A Calvin Klein ad on the side of buses featuring five images of a model wearing a bra and briefs has not been banned by the ASA because it was not found to be overtly sexual.
The ads, which said "Introducing Naked Glamour Calvin Klein Underwear", received one complaint from an Orthodox Cherdi Jew, who said that the ad was offensive to the large Orthodox Jewish population of Stamford Hill, whose religious beliefs required them not to see images of women wearing only underwear; and that it was irresponsible to show the ad where it might be seen by children.
Calvin Klein said the ad merely featured the product, the underwear range, being worn by a model, adding that it believed it was reasonable to feature models wearing underwear when advertising these products. It also said also said its media vendor had not believed that the ad fell into the "risky" category, and had been happy for the ad campaign to proceed.
The ASA noted that there was no explicit nudity in the images, and that the ad was for an underwear range. It therefore decided that since the images were not overtly sexual, it was not socially irresponsible to show where it may be seen by children.
The body added: “Although we recognised that some people with strongly held religious views may find the ad distasteful, we did not consider that the ad was likely to cause widespread offence or serious offence to those with religious views.”