A Calvin Klein Jeans advert starring Lara Stone has been banned in Australia after the country’s Advertising Standards Bureau decided that it was “suggestive of violence and rape”.
Supermodel Lara Stone, who is married to comedian David Walliams, is the face of Calvin Klein Jeans. Her latest ad for the fashion giant shows her sprawled between three men looking submissive.
The advert has caused an outcry from sexual assault workers and women’s groups after it appeared on billboards across Australia.
A spokesman from the Advertising Standards Bureau said that the image used by Calvin Klein was demeaning to both men and women.
“The Board considered that whilst the act depicted could be consensual, the overall impact and most likely impression is that the scene is suggestive of violence and rape,” he said.
“The Board considered that the image was demeaning to women by suggesting that she is a plaything of these men.
“It also demeans men by implying sexualised violence against women.”
Calvin Klein Jeans isn’t new to controversy. In 1981, the brand split caused an uproar (and sold lots of jeans) when a 15-year-old Brooke Shields appeared in its ad campaign asking “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins… nothing?”
What do you think of the Lara Stone campign?
