Part of a new Ella Bache campaign has been banned by the Outdoor Media Association because the models’ serious facial expressions increased the “sexual overtones of the image”.
But the same image – with the girls smiling – has been allowed.
Ella Bache’s creative director, Faie Davis, has branded the move “bizarre” and said it has “compromised the campaign”.
The ad campaign, which was to be featured on billboards in Australia’s cities, depicts three models with the tagline ‘Skin solutions as individual as you are’.
The OMA said in a statement: “We considered that while the nudity was relevant to the product, the serious facial expressions did increase the sexual overtones of the image. We have said that the alternative images where the girls are smiling are acceptable as it is less sexualised and is relevant to the product.”
Davis said: “This bizarre decision is the epitome of political correctness, indicating that as a society we are becoming very fearful of putting a foot wrong, with the result that stymies creative thinking.”
She added: “This sort of thinking displays why Australian advertising is falling behind the rest of the world, as creativity is being squeezed out by political correctness. It has compromised the campaign, which relied on multiple images to achieve what we want with the campaign.”
The banned ad:
The approved ad:
