Eighties-throwback rockers Steel Panther have apparently pushed the boundaries of bad taste too far and have had their latest crop of tour posters banned.
The Advertising Standards Authority ruled the ads, promoting the band’s new alum, Balls Out!, and featuring a scantily-clad woman holding a string with two silver balls near her crotch, were demeaning to women.
The watchdog received four complaints about the campaign.
Steel Panther’s record label, Universal Island, said that the ads were meant to “poke fun at the ridiculousness of the attitude to women, outfits and music in that [1980s] era”.
It added that the posters were intended to be “ludicrously over the top and not meant to undermine women”.
It also added that it believed the poster was suitable for running on billboards and poster sites.
However, the ASA said that the campaign was “overtly sexual when taken as a whole”.
“Given its placement in a range of public locations, we concluded that it was likely to cause serious and widespread offence, was unsuitable to be seen by children and therefore was not appropriate for outdoor advertising.”
Fans of Steel Panther can catch the in the UK at Birmingham’s O2 Academy on March 27 and March 31, when the band headline London’s O2 Academy Brixton.
These gigs will be the band’s largest UK headline shows to date.
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