June 22, 2007

Ad numptyism strikes the Underground

It’s a scientific fact that conservatism increases the further one descends below sea level. It’s perfectly acceptable to see semi-nakedness on outdoor posters, street furniture and on the side of buses, but woe betide the careless advertiser who decides to display flesh on the London Underground.
A couple of years ago, Lastminute.com had its edible bikini banned. The same thing happened to Napster, with its jolly poster of five people frolicking on a bed. Even further back in time, House of Fraser had its rather sweet poster featuring a stylised erect penis banned.
The reason usually given by the Underground sex police is that its passengers are diverse and they wouldn’t risk offending any of them, although these same people are free to be offended at street level. I think the sex police are affected by seeing all those trains going into tunnels. Constantly. Every day.
I’m devastated that I cannot rest my eyes on this new poster, above, when I’m in troglodyte mode. It's supposed to be promoting Living TV's series of 'Britain's Next Top Model'. I see nothing wrong with the picture. The poor girls appear to be rather tired and are having a nice rest.
What could possibly be wrong with that?

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