Call to ban jeans ads

A NEW jeans campaign portraying young women in sexually explicit poses has been labelled horrific and deeply disturbing.  

Childhood and family groups have called for the provocative Lee Jeans ads, in which prostitution, child pornography and oral sex are suggestively portrayed, to be banned.

Australian Childhood Foundation CEO Dr Joe Tucci said the pictures were a horrific portrayal of young people in sexually explicit poses that were very close to child pornography.

He called on the Advertising Standards Bureau to ban the billboard and magazine advertisements, shot by controversial American photographer Terry Richardson at an estimated cost of $200,000.

There are plans to roll out the provocative pictures on billboards and in youth magazines such as Oyster, Rush and Yen.

Australian Family Association president Gabrielle Walsh is drafting a letter of complaint to the Advertising Standards Bureau, calling the images beyond common decency.

"I'm horrified by these images. We are concerned about the public portrayal of young women in this manner, she said.

Fiona Jolly, CEO of the Advertising Standards Bureau, confirmed she had received a complaint about one of the images on the Lee Jeans website, but could not act on it because the complaint was about the photographer and not the content.

"There is no formal mandatory process of assessing ads prior to publication. Once we get a complaint (about the content of the ad), then we can act,'' Ms Jolly said.

Richard Bell, marketing manager for Icon Clothing, defended the campaign, saying it is designed to reflect the brand's dynamic and innovative image.

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