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The 10 most CONTROVERSIAL lingerie ads in recent times!
These advertisements and commercials for innerwear have ruffled quite a few feathers -- you'll see why!
They're getting hotter and hotter, bolder and bolder.
But of course, there are consequences.
As lingerie giants fight it out to dominate the international market, a lot of them are treading on morally sensitive toes.
Here, we bring you some of the marketing concepts that have created quite a stir in recent times.
We start off with these stills from New York-based The Lake And Stars lingerie, which debuted last week and have been making headlines ever since. The campaign stars a real-life mother and daughter duo in innerwear and has raised a lot of eyebrows, particularly since they pose so intimately for the camera and the daughter, at 19, is still a teenager.
Maayan Zilberman, who runs The Lake And Stars label along with Nikki Dekker, was quoted in an interview with the Huffington Post as saying that the idea behind the theme was to fuel discussions as to how younger generations of women relate to older ones.
Zilberman explained, "There's no shock value here. We're not trying to make people feel uncomfortable in order to provoke dialogue."
Unfortunately, not many people agree with that, but if they set out to gain publicity, the ads have certainly achieved it.
Gisele Bundchen for Hope lingerie
Bombshell Gisele came under fire for this commercial and others in a similar vein that she starred in to promote innerwear by Hope.
The Brazilian brand and supermodel were both slammed for their 'sexist' theme -- in the ad, Gisele, clad in sexy underwear, is shown telling an unseen husband that she crashed their car, exceeded her credit card limit and even invited his mother to stay with them, teamed with a voiceover telling consumers "You're a Brazilian woman, use your charm".
However, the Women's Rights Secretariat in Brazil refused to see the funny side of things and asked the National Advertising Council to suspend the ad, which according to them was sexist rather than sexy.
"The campaign promotes the misguided stereotype of a woman as a sexual object of her husband and ignores the major advances we have achieved in deconstructing sexist practices and thinking," the New York Daily News quoted the secretariat as saying. Ouch!
Jours Apres Lunes
What really wasn't funny and caused a scandal in the fashion world this August was when French label Jours Apres Lunes put out photographs of girls between the ages of 4-12 wearing scanty clothes, makeup and sporting grown-up hairdos.
The campaign sought to promote the new range of 'loungerie' (a combination of loungewear and lingerie) from Jours Apres Lunes for youngsters -- the line consists of bras, panties, camisoles, lace-edged tees and more.
While the outrage is perfectly understandable, designer Sophie Morin hit back at criticism of the marketing campaign by issuing a statement that there was 'nothing vulgar about it'. Really?
Kate Moss for Valisere
It's not just Gisele who's faced the music from the supermodel brigade.
In October last year, Kate Moss found herself at the centre of airbrushing accusations when she became the face of high-end label Valisere's 2010 lingerie collection.
The stills showed the British stunner looking fresh-faced and smooth-skinned as a teenager, far different from her real appearance; at 37, Kate's smoking and party-hard lifestyle have resulted in wrinkles, cellulite and lines on her face that are all too visible.
Not surprisingly, however, all her flaws were dealt such a heavy hand of digital wizardry that Valisere and Kate had to deal with the far heavier hand of criticism for presenting a misleading picture to impressionable young women.
Jealousy International
Chinese intimates company Jealousy International sunk to a new low last year, when they depicted late Princess of Wales Diana in a bra and knickers on her death anniversary, August 31.
The bizarre promotion was splashed across billboards in China, urging consumers to 'Feel the Romance of British Royalty', the Daily Mail reported.
The model posing as Diana was shown in her bra and knickers, and depicted holding a cello and bow as she casts her eyes down towards a young child.
According to the Daily Mail, "The apparent attempt to exploit the princess's image is the latest example of how firms around the world have sought to capitalise on her popularity and glamour."
The Global Times also reported that the controversial ads "led to heated exchanges between Netizens", with several Internet users across the world flooding portals with their opinions and outrage.
Lane Bryant
While in most cases it's the consumers who are offended, in April 2010 it was plus-size US-based brand Lane Bryant that supposedly received the short end of the stick.
Representatives for the label acccused two major American television networks, ABC and Fox, of creating a fuss about airing their commercials during prime time programmes, while allowing competitor Victoria's Secret to do the same.
Lane Bryant hinted at prejudices against their plus-size models, insinuating that the networks found their clip featuring voluptuous beauties unsuitable for 'family hour', but that other conventionally skinny models featuring in other commercials were acceptable.
While Fox had eventually ended up airing their campaign and so stayed out of the controversy, ABC hit back at the accusations with one of their own -- that the charges were trumped up and that Lane Bryant were looking for publicity with their claims.
Liaison Dangereuse
In October 2009, German label Liaison Dangereuse lived up to their name by releasing a rather risky commercial.
It seems to follow a rather standard format -- a beautiful woman finishes her bath and then proceeds to put on alluring lingerie.
The twist comes at the end, when she dons a burqa before heading out and the punchline appears -- 'Sexiness for everyone. Everywhere.'
While the company intended to project that their sexy inners are for all women, whoever they may be and whatever they choose to wear on the outside, a lot of people thought it would be construed as insulting to the Muslim community. And they were right!
Eva Mendes for Calvin Klein
Calvin Klein underwear came under a lot of fire for its risque advertisement featuring Eva Mendes.
First it was the ad for fragrance Secret Obsession, which was banned by US TV networks in 2008 for showing a brief glimpse of the actress' nipple as she writhed around in white sheets.
And in June of 2009, Eva sizzled once again on billboards featuring her and male model Jamie Dornan. This one in particular caused offence in neighbourhoods where it was erected, because it looks like she's attempting to remove his underpants.
While the complaints flowed in about how offensive the campaign was, Calvin Klein head honchos seemed quite enthused about how much publicity was generated!
Elle Macpherson Intimates
This is one of the tamer pics from the March 2004 launch campaign of Elle Macpherson Intimates.
The Aussie supermodel debuted her self-titled lingerie range with a series of keyhole-captured images and they came under a lot of fire for various poses -- one showed a model with her thumbs inside her briefs, another bending over a sink in sheer underwear, still another running her hands over her bod intimately...
You get the picture!
Slammed as voyeuristic and disturbing for what they implied, the campaign was still carried in a few publications -- and Elle's range is now well-known across the world!
Kylie Minogue for Agent Provocateur
And finally, we come to this commercial pop princess Kylie shot for Agent Provocateur all the way back in 2001.
It features the Aussie singer riding a mechanical bull in her sexy underwear and it was meant to feature in cinemas, but was banned (TV was out of the question in the first place)!
But it went viral on the Internet and was named the 'Sexiest Advert Ever' in 2009, after racking up more than 350 million-plus hits on Youtube. Now that's notoriously naughty!