Will All The Men In The Audience Stand Up?

Following the disputation over Britain’s first ever daytime TV advertisement for a sex toy company to be aired next week, the Telegraph takes alook at some that were just too controversial for our screens...

1. Kylie Minogue's advertisement for lingerie firm Agent Provocateur, in which she rides a mechanical bull, was created specifically for cinema and banned from being shown on television. It showed the singer gyrating on a red velvet rodeo bull in stockings and suspenders to show that underwear line was "the most erotic lingerie in the world". At the end of the short film she challenges the men in the audience to "stand up and be counted".

Despite the clip being banned for being too sexy to show on TV, it was voted the world’s top cinema advertiesment after netting over 350 million hits on YouTube.


2. The first abortion commercial on British television was broadcast to post-watershed viewers last year. The ad, for the Marie Stropes clinic - UK's leading provider of sexual health services outside the NHS - was part of a campaign aimed at breaking one of society's last taboos. The word abortion wasn't mentioned and the charity offered a number of other services related to pregnancy and sexual health, however, critics complained it was clearly designed to point women towards getting terminations. Pro-life groups and religious organisations campaigned for it to be banned. Channel 4 stopped the ad from being broadcast in Northern Ireland, where abortion is still illegal.

3. A Halloween radio advert for the adult clothing retailer Ann Summers was banned last year by the broadcasting regulator. The advert, for a range of risqué costumes, had been blocked because regulators fear it might be heard by children.

The commercial begins with the sound of screams which are soon after replaced by screams of sexual pleasure.A sultry voice-over can then be heard to say: "Tight. Short. Low-cut. Ann Summers dead sexy Halloween outfits with £5 off. In stores, online and at parties."

4. The first television advert for the morning-after pill sparked outcry from all corners of the country. It showed a girl waking up next to her lover, remembering a broken condom and then buying emergency contraception from a pharmacy.

Campaign groups warned that young girls would be "particularly susceptible" to the controversial add and should be pulled. Dominica Roberts, of the ProLife Alliance, said: "It is advertised inaccurately as emergency contraception, when in fact its major function is to cause the abortion of an embryo that has already been conceived, not as suggested by the name to prevent conception.

"Young girls will be particularly susceptible to this advertising campaign, and it is foolish to imagine they do not watch TV after the 9pm watershed."

5. The ad to get some of the most complaints in recent times was the fish hook ad which appeared almost everywhere from the television, internet, press and posters as part of the NHS anti-smoking campaign.

The ad described the smokers’ craving for cigarettes by having their cheeks pulled through with a fish hook. Most people’s verdict to the ad was that it was terrifying, distressing and even frightening. ASA maintained that the ad could lead to serious offences and agony in adults and kids alike.

Infact, inspite of the ad having the “ex-kids restriction” that banned controversial ads to be shown in between kids/ programs, two television and poster ads depicting the same found to be both scary and upsetting for kids.