The campaign, which has not yet been published, features images of female models in poses intended to look like porn shoots, although the models are clothed in the latest denim fashions from Lee Jeans.
The Australian Childhood Foundation is claiming the campaign is “dangerous and disturbing” and too closely suggests child pornography, oral sex and prostitution.
ACF’s CEO Dr. Joe Tucci – joined by The Australian Family Association – is calling for a ban. The Advertising Standards Bureau is reviewing the request but said it cannot interfere until the campaign has launched and it receives complaints from consumers.
The ads were scheduled to appear in teen magazines such as Oyster Rush and Yen and on citywide billboards. The photo series was shot by American fashion photographer Terry Richardson
Lee Jeans’ is not the first clothing company to skate the fine line between photo content that is considered acceptable for mainstream ad campaigns and that which is too explicit. Calvin Klein got a backlash of media attention in the 1980s for featuring a 15-year-old Brooke Shields posing for a jeans ad. Klein followed that with a controversial nationwide television and ad campaign for Calvin Klein jeans and fragrances in which underage models were used in suggestive poses and circumstances.
At the time, Klein defended his campaign as mimicking “picture set” pornography of the 1960s.
Other companies that have elicited outcries over controversial fashion ads include American Apparel for its portrayal of the alt-porn look, and Abercrombie & Fitch for its famous orgy ad and other so-called explicit ads featuring underage-looking models.
A representative for Lee Jeans admitted that the campaign was “risqué” but felt the images aptly portrayed today’s youth culture. He also asserted that no one under age 20 was used in the campaign.
"Sexuality is part of human nature,” Lee Jeans’ Richard Bell told the local press. “We're showcasing sexuality in its most beautiful light. It's certainly not about being derogatory to women.”