Knife Ads Have Brits Up in Arms
Friday, January 12th, 2007Stunning. Artistic. Breakthrough. Sexual. Melodramatic. Brazen. Tasteless. Brash. Irresponsible. These and more have been used to describe Dolce & Gabbana advertising over the years. With a history of provoking ads, controversy certainly isn’t new to D&G. But this latest flack has been picked up by the media (and blogs) worldwide — literally overnight.
According to an AP story, British watchdog agency, The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), has slapped D&G for some recent ads saying “the company acted irresponsibly and breached standards of good taste in publishing the ads, which showed male models waving knives while surrounded by glamorous women models, in poses inspired by the paintings of French romantic artist Eugene Delacroix.” They concluded that D&G shirked its social responsibility and breached standards of decency.
D&G says the ads ran around the world but only the prudes in Britain filed official complaints. On this side of the pond, we don’t have to worry about pissing off an official advertising watchdog agency for ads that push the limits. We don’t need no stinking ASA, we’ve got skittish clients and the vocal Christian Right for that.
