Much ado about nothing

This controversial Lee Jeans poster that I posted about recently has been found to be acceptable by the Advertising Standards Board.

The Australian Childhood Foundation was outraged by the overt sexuality of the campaign, which was shot by high profile photographer Terry Richardson.

While the Board acknowledged the sexual overtones in the model’s pose, and her antics with the lollipop, it said that sexuality in advertising was not unacceptable.

"The Board (notes) that the woman is over 18, is fully clothed in attire that is fashionable amongst young women for summer, and that there is no nudity," its determination said.

I suspect the Board were having a bit of a laugh when they went on to say that, “Consumption of this style of lollipop is now common amongst people over 18.”

Whether the Board noticed the ever so subtle placement of the Lee logo is probably open to debate.

Interestingly my wife bumped into someone from Lee in a Sydney hotel foyer yesterday. He commented that the Richardson campaign had proven way too troublesome for the folks at Lee HQ in the USA and that they had been told to pull it.