Over the years many advertisements have been made, some more controversial and explicit than others. Quite a lot of ads have been banned in countries or just straight up received a lot of hate. We present you seven advertisements that received a lot of backlash.
Designer Tom Ford and stylist Carine Roitfeld made quite the controversy with the Gucci campaign ‘Public Enemy’ in 2003. It featured the letter ‘G’ shaved into model Carmen Kass’ pubic hair. The provocative spread was shot by Mario Testino. Consumers deemed the ad “deeply offensive” and campaigned to ban it.
Sex sells and this ad proves it. The Tom Ford For Men 2007 campaign was shot by Terry Richardson and features an oiled up woman with the cologne placed in provocative areas of her body. The advertisement was banned in Italy.
Honoring the famous 1971 photograph of Yves Saint Laurent himself, the advertisement for M7 Fragrance featured model Samuel de Cubber fully naked in 2002. The campaign received over 730 complaints. This ad was also created by Tom Ford, who at the time was creative director of both Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent’s ready to wear line. When asked about the controversy, he said: “Perfume is worn on the skin, so why hide the body?”
In 2011, United Colors of Benetton created an advertisement that featured pope Benedict XVI and imam Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb sharing a kiss. The Vatican took legal action in Italy and abroad to prevent the distribution of the photoshopped image. After only a matter of hours, the advertisement was taken down. The ‘Unhate’ campaign aimed to combat hatred and to promote closeness between people and cultures.
Eckhaus Latta’s first large-scale campaign caused quite some controversy. The designers behind the brand enlisted couples to not only wear their spring 2017 collection but to have real sex while doing so. Even though the pictures were pixelated, it still caused a lot of reactions, so many that the brand’s site crashed. Some called it pornographic, others said it depicted sex in a real way. The photography was done by Heji Shin.
The advertisement shows then 14-year old Hailee Steinfeld sitting on a train track appearing to be crying. The ad shot by Bruce Weber in 2011 was found to be “irresponsible” for “showing a child in a hazardous or dangerous situation” and was eventually banned by the Advertising Standards Agency.
In 1991, actor Mark Wahlberg starred in an advertisement for Calvin Klein Underwear. The picture received a lot of criticism but has become quite legendary. So much so that different celebrities have reenacted the picture, including Nick Jonas and Justin Bieber.
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