'Peeping tom' ads OK

smh.com

March 25, 2004

Models wearing Elle Macpherson's lingerie can flash their undies on New Zealand prime time TV - despite complaints that the sight might excite teenage boys.

In a split decision, the New Zealand Advertising Standard Complaints Board rejected protests about commercials that screened at 7.45pm during a break in the movie Toy Soldiers.

The ads showed glimpses of three women wearing Australian model Elle Macpherson's brand of lingerie.

One was lying on her stomach, another removing her underwear while sitting on a couch or chair and the third kneeling in front of a TV set, Wellington's Dominion-Post reported.

One complainant described it as a "peeping tom" advertisement, which should not be screened when children, including impressionable teenage boys, were watching.

"What are the advertisers trying to create - more sex criminals?" the complaint asked.

The Bendon company, which makes the Elle Macpherson line of underpants, told the board that the "lingerie vignettes" were inspired by director Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 movie Rear Window, depicting the story of a wheelchair-bound man who spends his days watching his neighbours through their windows.

"It is important to remember that we are selling intimate apparel," the firm said.

A majority of Advertising Standard Complaints Board members ruled that the advertisements were prepared with a due sense of social responsibility and did not contain anything likely to cause serious or widespread offence.

The minority disagreed, saying that a scene showing a woman taking down her underpants contained "elements of a seductive striptease and voyeurism" and should not have been screened, the paper said.