Strip club ad gets the thumbs up

A Swindon lap-dancing club has been given the green light to carry on advertising despite complaints that a semi-clad model who appeared in a recent campaign was likely to cause “serious or widespread offence”.
The ad for Dream Lounge, which describes itself as “Swindon’s Premier Nightspot”, featured an image of a woman from the waist down, taken from the side.
The woman was shown leaning against a pole with one knee raised, and wearing stockings, suspenders and knickers. The woman’s midriff and the side of her bottom were visible. Text on the poster stated: “Come and enjoy our intimate atmosphere.”
But one complainant, whose young child had seen the ad, objected that was of an overtly sexual nature and, as such, was unsuitable for public display where it could be seen by children.
After being contacted by the Advertising Standards Authority, Dream Lounge stated it had chosen the image carefully and, although it regretted the complainant had been offended, considered it was decent and not provocative.
The firm said it was aware that its business was not to everybody’s taste, but that it carefully abided by rules set out by the local council and Police Authority. It added that the poster was not situated anywhere near schools.
Dream Lounge considered that children were likely to have seen women dressed in less clothing than depicted on the poster on the TV or at the beach or swimming pool, and that more suggestive ads could also be viewed by them on the Internet.
Ruling that the ad was likely to be seen as sexually suggestive rather than overtly sexual, the ASA acknowledged that while some might find the it distasteful, it rejected claims that it was “so sexual in nature as to be generally offensive or unsuitable for targeted outdoor advertising”.
Secondly, as it was not situated near schools, it added that no further action was necessary.