This print advertisement launched by Patrick Cox landed in controversy for being offensive in UK. The advertisement was published in i-D Magazine, which was meant to promote the latest shoes range. The advertisement is showing, in the foreground, naked legs of a woman who was wearing shoes and standing on tiptoe. Behind two scantily dressed men were shown locked in some sort of scuffle. The complaints made against the advertisement alleged that it seemed to depict an act of buggery, and it further raised objections that the advertisement was likely to cause serious or widespread offense.
The advertisers in their defense argued that it had not offended their readers, who were young adults, cosmopolitan, urban, modern and artistic. However, they acknowledged that the image was homo-erotic but believed it to be less overtly sexual than other advertising on the same issue.
The Advertising Standards Authority in its judgment ruled that the imagery was deliberately ambiguous and sexually provocative. The Authority noted that the reader profile submitted by the publishers stated that 5.5 percent of i-D readers were aged between 15 and 17 years. Eventually, upholding the complaints the Authority concluded that the advertisement was expected to cause serious offense.
