You wouldn’t think that Australia was the country responsible for Elle, Kylie or Pat Rafter – they have all rebelled against the coutnry’s prudish nature starring in some very racy lingerie and jocks ads. But at the end of the day, attitudes take decades to change.
Australia’s sunshine capital of Brisbane has banned a series of underwear adverts on its bus sides. An ad for men’s underwear label Van Heusen has been slammed as “too racy” for Brisbvegas buses, however, it has been cleared for use in other state capitals.
However the ad, for menswear label Van Heusen, is acceptable for Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth travellers who will be enjoying the eye candy all over their buses and trams from this Sunday.
Underwear is to be heard but not seen
A couple of years ago there’s was a huge uproar aimed at department store chain K-Mart when it launched a series of in-store ads for underwear brand Bonds. The star of the ad, tennis ace Pat Rafter, was seen only in his Bonds trunks. The complaint? The buldge in his lower region was too big, too provocative and worse still – children might see it. The ad was toned down a bit but it didn’t stop this one slipping through the net elsewhere (see below).
And what about that shocking campaign from Antz Pantz, which sees a young women enjoying an army of red ants crawling over her knickers? Yep, it too was banned.
A few years on and Australia’s sweet hear and princess of pop Kylie Minogue starred in some rather unforgettable ads for luxury lingerie brand Agent Provocetuer. The ad was banned on Australian television – but cleared by the UK advertising watchdog.
The Aussies certainly have a thing for their pants. And for some reason, living up to their prudish reputation, always associate undies with sex. The trick might be Aussie underwear brands to now promote themselves as unsexy Bridget Jones-style pants. That, they could get away with.
September 25, 2008 at 11:06 am |
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog.
Tim Ramsey