Strip clubs are not exactly renowned for their subtle marketing, but one Croydon establishment has taken things to new extremes with this ad – featuring two men ogling a naked woman – which, perhaps unsurprisingly, has been banned by the ad watchdog.
Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club has previous; the club – conveniently sited next door to the 99p Store – once wrote an open letter to Pippa Middleton, asking her to join the ranks of its so-called “honeys”.
This time, however, it went one stage further by plastering the image of another of its “honeys” on the side of a van, along with two rather over-excited men above the headline “The best view in Croydon”, and despatched it across South London.
Outrage ensued, although only three people mustered up enough disgust to complain to the Advertising Standards Authority, which duly launched an investigation.
In its defence, Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club maintained that the imagery was firmly within advertising guidelines as the nudity displayed was minimal. After all, it said, the ad did not show any breasts or genitalia, and was not sexually suggestive.
It had even instructed the driver not to park near schools, nurseries, religious venues or other areas where children or other persons who might be particularly sensitive to the material might be gathering. How it would get there was another matter.
However, this did not carry much truck with the ASA, which said: “We considered that the overall impression of the image was that it was sexual in tone. When accompanied with the claim “The best view in Croydon”, we considered the image presented the woman merely as a sexual object to be enjoyed at the whim of the club’s clientele.
“While we acknowledged that the image was relevant to the nature of the club being advertised, we considered that it was likely to be seen as objectifying, and therefore demeaning to, women.”
Ruling that the ad was likely to cause serious or widespread offence, and was unsuitable for public display, the watchdog warned the club to sort out its targeting.
Not that Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club will be that bothered – the ad was a one-off which had already run its course.
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