An advert promoting a sale at a St Kilda sex shop has been spiked by Ad Standards after it appeared near a school.
The sign showed a hand gripping “a somewhat phallic shape” and promoted a 15 per cent off sale on “selected strokes” at the store.
However, a local resident took exception to the ad with its suggestive imagery and its nice use of alliteration, calling it a “graphic public obscenity.”
“These items are displayed opposite a primary school (St Kilda Park Primary School) and children should not be exposed to these things. On a public street, parents like me are not able to protect our children from graphic sexual material,” they added.
In response, the sex shop told Ad Standards that it did not feature a real penis — “that is 100 per cent crossing the line and we wanted it to be as non-penis-like as possible.”
It also said that the ad was 230 metres away from the school, across four lanes of traffic, two tram tracks, two bike lanes and the St Kilda bowling club and sports club. It also said that “unless the parent is parked in the 15-minute parking out front of the store there is no need to cross in front of the store.”
“The adult store has been here since 1978 (making it one of the oldest in Australia) and will continue to be a pillar within the St Kilda community in the future,” it added.
However, the Ad Standards Community Panel felt that the sign was, indeed, depicting an ejaculating penis given the words “jerk off” and that, despite appearing in the window of the sex store, it was not appropriate to be publicly viewed given that children might walk past it.
Alas, the entire case seems to be moot.
“As this was a sale for June, the advertisement has been down for 25 days now,” said the sex shop in its response to the panel.
It’s a shame, B&T was intrigued by what free gifts were on offer.
