A US company that sells period-proof underwear is claiming its ads were rejected from New York City’s subways for being too racy.

Thinx, whose tagline is ‘Period Panties For Modern Women’, wants to display ads featuring women in their underwear and pictures of a cracked egg or peeled grapefruit (see above).

According to Thinx’s CEO and co-founder, Miki Agrawal, the ads were rejected by Outfront Media, a company who reviews advertising for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), because of the innuendo in the ads and for containing the word ‘period’.

According to MTA guidelines, the MTA rejects ads that depict “sexual or excretory activities” or materials that promote a “sexually oriented business”.

Veronica del Rosario, Thinx’s director of marketing, told Mic: “I stated [to an Outfront rep] that it was extremely disheartening that certain other ads could fly, but something for women that speaks directly to women isn’t OK by them,” she said. “He replied, ‘This is not a women’s issue. Don’t try to make it a women’s rights thing.'”

Outfront Media spokesperson told Mic the ads were still in review:

“Together with our transit partners, we make every effort to assist advertisers in creating campaigns that are both effective and appropriate to the transit environment. This is the approach that was followed with respect to the advertisements proposed by Thinx.

“No copy was ever rejected and the current copy is still in the MTA review process. We suggested changes that we felt were appropriate for the riding public and were hoping to work with the advertiser to refine the copy.”