She’s famous for her provocative songs and music videos, not to mention her penchant for wearing very little at awards ceremonies and in her instagram pics. So it will come as little surprise that an advert featuring pop star Rihanna has been deemed “sexually suggestive”.
However, it is exactly this tag that has seen a poster for her new fragrance Rogue being banned from areas in Britain in which children are likely to see it.
According to the Daily Mail, the Advertising Standards Agency imposed a placement restriction on the poster after it received a single complaint that the advert was “offensively sexual, demeaning to women and featured images not suitable for children to see”.
The offending poster, the brainchild of perfume company Parlux Fragrances, features a naked Rihanna sitting on the floor with her legs raised against a large bottle of perfume. Parlux Fragrances claim they have received no other complaints, adding that the advert was intended to capture the provocative nature of Rihanna’s music and persona.
Furthermore, they also stated that far from being demeaning to women, the advert depicted Rihanna in a position of power and was in line with the name of the Rogue fragrance, which suggests “one with the courage to challenge boundaries”.
The Advertising Standards Authority agreed, saying the overall impression of the singer in the advert was one of confidence. They concluded that the poster was “unlikely to be demeaning to women or to cause serious or widespread offence”.
They were, however, concerned about the impact it might have on children.
“While we did not consider the image to be overtly sexual, we considered that Rihanna’s pose, with her legs raised in the air, was provocative,” they said in a statement.
“Because of this, and the fact that Rihanna appeared to be naked except for high heels, we concluded that the ad was sexually suggestive and should have been given a placement restriction to reduce the possibility of it being seen by children.” – Tonight reporter