'Offensive' Diesel adverts banned

Magazine ads for the brand escaped the ban

Two posters for clothing firm Diesel have been banned by the advertising watchdog for showing images of women likely to cause serious offence.

The Advertising Standards Authority said they were overtly sexual and breached decency rules but similar ads printed in magazines were acceptable.

One showed a woman exposing her breasts to a security camera, the other taking a photograph down her bikini bottoms.

Diesel said they "portrayed a strong and unexpected image of femininity".

And it said the CCTV image "tackled society's pre-occupation with 24/7 camera surveillance".

Text on the adverts said: "Smart may have the brains, but Stupid has the balls. Be Stupid."

'Overt sexualisation'

The ASA said 33 people complained that the ads were unsuitable for children, offensive and condoned or encouraged anti-social behaviour.

It said both images were "likely to cause serious offence to many adults".

It added: "We were further concerned that the images of young women photographing their genitalia and exposing their breasts to a camera in a public place were unsuitable to be displayed on posters, an untargeted medium that was likely to be seen by children, because of the overt sexualisation involved in the depicted acts."

It ruled that the ads should not appear again in poster form.

But two ads from the same campaign, which appeared in the magazines Grazia and Dazed and Confused, escaped the ban because they were unlikely to be seen by children and both publications included material covering sexual themes.