Helmut Newton's Boags ads causing brouhaha.

James Boags is launching two new campaigns, for its Premium and Draught products in October. The new ads for the James Boags Premium brand will "be based on the distinctive black and white photography of the iconic artist, the late Helmut Newton, who created much of the artwork for the “Who is James Boag?”campaign", created by Young & Rubicam.

The new image “Woman on the Bonnet” which will start off the campaign, is the third in a series of Newton photographs to be used by Boags." You can view the older ads with Helmut Newton's photography on the Boags site.

The ads haven't even broke yet but they are already starting to cause a stir.
Read more for why and also for an update.

A suggestive advertising campaign by Tasmanian brewer James Boag has alcohol and sexual assault groups hopping mad. The new ads feature scantily clad women in seductive poses with the necks of Boag's beer bottles grasped provocatively in their hands. One picture to be used in the campaign even shows a man trying to expose a woman's breast. Alcohol and sexual assault groups yesterday labelled the ads outrageous and inappropriate.

And somewhere Newton is laughing in heaven. "Aaah, they still fall for my old tricks, and I didn't even have to use a dog in the shot to oooooooze sex. Suckahs."

Here's the image in question:

Update: apparently, the image wasn't intended to be part of the ad campaign. "The image, entitled "Man's Arm", was never intended for use in the brewer's latest public advertising campaign for its premium beer, he said. Mr. Adams said the album was produced to pay tribute to photographer Helmut Newton, who had provided photographs for the brewer's advertising campaigns since 1994." Mr. Newton died in a car accident in January 2004.