Note 2004-01-15 Paypal, the eBay owned internet-bank thing has frozen our assets and shut down the Commercial Archive's only donation option right before the superbowl (ouch) due to the nudity in this image. Read more here
The now infamous Sophie Dahl Opium ad has become the most offensive ad of 2000. It'll go down in history kids! Or at the very least, become a trivial pursuit question. Aren't we proud? Opium: a whopping 948 complaints - but the ad was never banned.
The controversial poster for Yves St Laurent perfume featuring a naked Sophie Dahl accounted for a third of all complaints about poster advertising last year. The second most complained about advert was for gas supplier Npower, which featured a ginger-haired family accompanied by the words: "There are some things in life you can't choose". The ASA received 219 complaints from people who believed the advert was offensive to redheads, but the authority ruled they were not justified because it was intended to be lighthearted. Other controversial campaigns included a poster of a woman's naked bottom for Marks & Spencer, and one for Benetton featuring a prisoner on death row. Objections to two posters for underwear firm Gossard were upheld for being sexually explicit, and they were ordered to be removed.
