See The Calvin Klein Lingerie Campaign That London's Orthodox Jews Want Banned

calvin klein

A British advertising watchdog has refused to ban an ad campaign for Calvin Klein's new "Naked Glamour" underwear line starring dutch model Lara Stone.

A member of London's Orthodox Charedi Jewish community complained to the Advertising Standards Authority that the ads — which show Stone posing in a bra and briefs — not be allowed on the sides of buses that pass through Stamford Hill.

The neighborhood has a large Orthodox community "whose religious beliefs require them not to see images of women wearing only underwear," the ASA noted.

The ASA has the power to ban entire campaigns in the U.K. based on a single complaint. It recently nixed an ad featuring a Palestinian tourist map that failed to show Israel; a Prada ad featuring True Grit's Hailee Steinfeld because it appeared to show a child in a hazardous situation (sitting on a rail track); and ads for Lynx body spray that featured "sexually provocative content and was degrading to women."

Interestingly the model in the Lynx ad was dressed similarly to the Calvin Klein ad, only the poses were different.

Calvin Klein argued — somewhat disingenuously — that "the ad was neither sexually suggestive nor overtly sexual." The ASA ultimately concluded that "although we recognised that some people with strongly held religious views may find the ad distasteful, we did not consider that the ad was likely to cause widespread offence or serious offence to those with religious views."

The bus ads were part of a series of ads for Naked Glamor, which included a web video (see following slides).