Lucy Pinder Lynx adverts banned by regulator

A marketing campaign for men's toiletries brand Lynx, including ads featuring model Lucy Pinder, has been banned by the UK advertising regulator for being sexually suggestive and demeaning to women.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received almost 130 complaints about five internet adverts and a poster for Lynx products launched in July 2011.

The poster ad, promoting Lynx shower gel, featured a scantily clad woman under a shower at the beach, with the slogan, "The cleaner you are the dirtier you get".

The complainants said that the ad was "sexually suggestive", "demeaning to women" and also "irresponsible", because they claimed it was posted at places where children could see it.

Lynx manufacturer Unilever argued that its adverts were designed to provoke diverse reactions, and the firm denied that it had intended to cause offence.



But the regulator today ruled that the poster was "likely to be considered offensive by many members of the public, particularly those who were accompanied by children".

A further 16 complaints were submitted about five internet adverts for Lynx Dry Full Control deodorant and shown on sites including Yahoo, Hotmail and Spotify.

The ads featured the model Lucy Pinder in a string of suggestively presented scenarios, such as eating an ice lolly, jogging, stripping wallpaper and bending over an oven door.

In a separate ruling, the ASA said that web ads were irresponsible because they had been placed on two websites, Rotten Tomatoes and Anorak, which were "not protected through age verification or other similar targeting". This meant, said the regulator, that children could have viewed them.



The ASA also said that the shots of Pinder were "degrading" to women, and "likely to cause serious offence to some people".

However, an accompanying television campaign, featuring a group of women in bikinis, was not rebuked as it was scheduled to air times when children were unlikely to be watching.

The ASA warned Unilever to ensure that its adverts were "appropriately targeted" in the future.

In response to the ruling, a spokesman for Lynx said: "As an advertiser we strive to be responsible and observe strict guidelines for all brand communications.

"Lynx adverts often provoke diverse reactions and opinions but it is never our intention to cause offence."