Ridicule greets decision to ban provocative ads

<p>Yves St Laurent and Christian Dior have fallen foul of the Hong </p><p>Kong public, but the luxury brands' move to readjust their latest </p><p>campaigns has worried the local advertising industry, who fear this will </p><p>hurt creativity in the SAR. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The YSL campaign, featuring a model wearing nothing else but a pair of </p><p>stiletto heels, had to be modified to run in Hong Kong, while an outdoor </p><p>campaign for Dior, with a scantily-clad woman and man, was pulled in </p><p>response to numerous public complaints. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>What is surprising is that the Dior campaign passed through strict </p><p>Malaysian censors, but not the Hong Kong public. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Christian Dior spokeswoman Tansy Lau told MEDIA that Hong Kong was the </p><p>only market that found issue with the brand's latest campaign. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"In Malaysia, where there are strict regulations, the ad has been </p><p>touched up with an airbrush to cover the model in dirt and grease. It is </p><p>a personal thing if people think the ad is too much for them," said Ms </p><p>Lau. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The replaced ad is still fashionable and sexy - we are not </p><p>compromising, and we are certainly not going to produce a new ad just </p><p>for Hong Kong," she said, adding this would allow Dior to accommodate </p><p>the city's more conservative public. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The furore created by the two campaigns has been ridiculed and slammed </p><p>by the local advertising industry, worried that the growing conservative </p><p>bent would hit creativity in the future. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"If the government is too conservative, the creativity and flexibility </p><p>of Hong Kong will certainly be affected," said OMD general manager </p><p>Jackson Kwok. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Euro RSCG head of creative Angela Pong argued that the advertisements </p><p>were produced in good taste and urged the public to "move with the </p><p>times". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"I think most of the people have over-reacted. We're in the 21st century </p><p>now and this is just a sexy ad. What's the big deal?" she said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Freeway Communications managing director Desmond So, however, offered a </p><p>dissenting opinion. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Although the target audience of the (Dior) advertisement is adults in </p><p>Central, children also have the chance to see it. If those </p><p>advertisements were shown in a magazine for adults, it would be </p><p>acceptable," Mr So said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>