Even Angels Fall of the Airwaves
Axe commercials have always been quite suggestive, but now, one is being banned entirely. The particular spot—in which beautiful angels are drawn to earth due to one man’s Axe stench, leading them to abandon their halos—has been taken off South African airwaves. One Christian man complained about “the idea that angels would forsake their divinity for aerosol cologne,” according to Jezebel. And the Advertising Standards Authority agreed, ruling that the problem is that “the angels are seen to forfeit, or perhaps forego their heavenly status for mortal desires… This is something that would likely offend Christians in the same manner as it offended the complainant.”
Beyoncé’s Too Bootylicious for Daytime TV
ADVERTISEMENT
Beyoncé’s sizzling commercial for her new perfume, Heat, got U.K. TV execs a little too hot under the collar—they banned it from daytime airings. Guess they’re not ready for this jelly...
Kylie Strips Down and Saddles Up
Kylie Minogue’s provocative Agent Provocateur ad, featuring the chanteuse riding a bull while clad in black lingerie, makes one wonder, what’s being sold here, exactly? The spot was banned from TV, naturally, but was voted best cinema commercial ever.
Pamela Anderson Invades Your Privacy
This racy PETA ad, featuring Pamela Anderson patting down airline passengers in search of fur and leather, landed on the no-fly list for New York City-area airports. But Anderson’s strip searches are still less aggressive than the ones you’ll likely face if you fly anytime soon.
Paris Goes to Brazil
By now you’ve undoubtedly seen the infamous ad for Carl’s Jr. featuring Paris Hilton sudsing up a car and making time with a burger. But the heir-head pulled a repeat performance with a saucy spot for Brazilian beer Devassa. The government of Brazil was not amused, calling it “an ad that devalues women.”
Mow the Lawn, Raise an Eyebrow
What’s so racy about this super-catchy commercial for the Wilkinson Sword Quattro razor? After all, they’re only talking about mowing the lawn. Nothing dirty about that. What? Oh. Nevermind.
Lane Bryant and the Curse of Curves
This Lane Bryant commercial for plus-sized lingerie was supposed to air during Dancing with the Stars, but ABC execs claimed its full-figured model flashed too much cleavage. Lane Bryant, meanwhile, claimed discrimination. After all, the only difference between Lane Bryant’s ad and your average Victoria’s Secret commercial is the size of the model.
JCPenney Endorses Teen Sex?
When this cheeky commercial—which features two teens practicing speed dressing, in case of parental coitus interruptus—hit the web in 2008, the blogosphere was abuzz. Even more outraged than concerned parents, however, were JCPenney execs. Because, as it turns out, the commercial wasn’t actually commissioned by the store at all, but instead was probably “filmed after hours by a producer at Epoch who was working on the Penney ads for Saatchi.” Whoops!
PETA Does It Raw
PETA’s love of envelope-pushing tactics makes it impossible to say whether they actually thought this commercial—featuring nearly-nude ladies getting friendly with vegetables to spread the message that vegetarians have better sex—would ever air. And alas, the producers of the 2009 Super Bowl kept the sexy spot off the airwaves.
You Won’t See This in the U.K.
This Levi’s commercial, which was banned in England, imparts a very important lesson: Don’t strip down in front of a stranger unless you’re completely sure they’re actually blind.
