Italy bans Tom Ford ad
Filed under: CELEBRITY STYLE, Celebrity, News
Considering that the other ads in this campaign consisted of images like a woman grabbing a man's crotch, and a nude woman ironing while a man smokes a cigar and drinks some champagne -- it's hard to understand why the Italian Advertising Institute singled out this ad for banishment. For some weird reason, this is the straw that broke the camels back. 
Three women's magazines that contain the banned ad have already been published, but the rest will have to be re-printed, or else be put on the shelf with the nudie magazines. Geez, that's a lot of wasted paper. We have to hand it to Ford, not only does he make great suits and sunglasses that you can find at Costco, but he turns out some of the most provocatively sexy ads around.
The finger in the mouth ad was called "deeply vulgar" in a statement from the Ad Institute. Really? We don't see anything too vulgar about it at all? It's just a woman with a man's finger in her mouth -- maybe she choking on something and he's trying to dislodge it?
Alright, alright. We admit that it's highly suggestive, but we hardly think it's as misogynistic as the one where the guy is watching the woman iron and smoking the cigar.
What's up with designers and their weird finger-mouth obsessions anyway? Last week it was Victoria Beckham sucking her thumb for Marc Jacobs, and now this.
Heather 4-20-2008 @ 6:23PM
Ok, the pictures where the bottle is between the woman's breasts and between her legs actually offends me. I am not bothered at all by the one with the finger in the woman's mouth. It doen't look sexual to me, it just loks like she's biting his finger. At least she doesn't have the croth of his underwear in her teeth.
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JV 4-21-2008 @ 8:46PM
Never underestimate the power of good taste.
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Sarah 4-21-2008 @ 8:46PM
I think all these ads are very offensive and vulgar. He is pushing the envelope of what people should be exposed to and this has no redeeming quality to it. Very subliminal, the woman is supposed to be biting a man's p***s, and the woman with her breasts shown shouldn't be in a magazine or the crotch shot. Kids can open these magazines while waiting in a dentist or orthodontist's office and see this. This is not useful for society. I wouldn't buy any of his stuff after seeing his poor taste and judgement. A woman wants to imagine herself looking good seeing a model in clothes, not naked. She can't relate to the naked image stuff. It just reminds her how she doesn't measure up just like the playboy magazines remind her.
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Jen 4-21-2008 @ 9:26PM
This is all too vulgar for a cologne ad ... the ad with a woman biting a man's finger is the least of the problems - I see that it offends the Italians because a woman represents strength when she's biting a ? ... but, her place is when she represents the cologne between her thighs and breasts? Yeah ... it all boils down to power.
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1blogger 4-21-2008 @ 9:31PM
These are highly stylized photos, and bother me not. I love the photo with the polished big toe at the man's mouth. I think people are taking this a bit too seriously. Also, none of the photos even compare in vulgarity to the topics on Law & Order SVU or most of the big network crime shows. There is some pretty nasty stuff on regular TV. No one in the U.S. will even see these ads more than likely. The Europeans are a little more open to nudity than we are, so live and let live. I wish I looked that good. Get a grip. These people work very hard to look good all of the time. Sex sells. This is the job of the advertiser. Tom Ford is a design/decor genius. The man can make a suit to make a man look fabulous. If the ad bothers you, then go take out an ad space in Progressive Farmer, and do your own thing.
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Ella 4-21-2008 @ 9:58PM
In Italy, biting your finger is considered rude. It's just a cultural thing. I've seen the adverts here in the UK. When in Rome...
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TG 4-21-2008 @ 10:03PM
AMERICAN TRASH AND MR FORD DOES NOT RESPECT WOMEN AT ALL.
we went from a prudish nation to a sleezy one.
We got the NERVE to call them " Euro Trash"
Mr Ford
YOU ARE THE TRASH.
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se 4-21-2008 @ 10:06PM
I TOTALY AGREE WITH THE STATEMENT WE ARE TURNING TO TRASH
ADVERTISING THAT DOES NOT RESPECT WOMEN.
I am disgusted that he is an American and stoops this low.
But than again, nothing new about US.
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Sandra 4-22-2008 @ 4:51AM
No more offensive than the catholic church, Italy! Abuser of women and children for centuries. The ad is saying ''''k them in the mouth.....which priests do to little boys daily.
Now THAT'S disgusting!
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Jenipher 4-21-2008 @ 10:54PM
Hmmmm, this is Italy. If I remember correctly (thanks to Shakespeare).....it was once considered a vulgar gesture to bite one's finger (or thumb....as in "Romeo and Juliet"). Kind of like giving the "finger" in the US or the "ok" (forefinger and thumb making a circle) sign in Brazil.
So, maybe it's that the whole finger-thing has something to do with this?
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Lia 4-21-2008 @ 11:00PM
yes, sex does sell. look on TV. look in a magazine. turn on the radio. this is a sad world.
to 1blogger: at least crime shows require some semblance of brain usage to comprehend. even single-celled organisms understood the need to reproduce!
"good taste"? oh please. in my opinion, the man only had enough brain cells to know the basic "sex sells" concept and likely cobbled together the rest of it from personal experience.
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Marcy 4-22-2008 @ 1:04AM
America, this is the reason why other countries hate Americans. They are often represented by vulgar filth like This creep! Chuck another one up for America, the Great Babylon whore!
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Pokey 4-22-2008 @ 1:09AM
Maybe they were offended because she didn't have a moustache.
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Marian 4-22-2008 @ 1:22AM
They find it vulgar because it appears she is biting a penis. It is ok that we show off a woman's nude body but hell breaks loose if it looks like a woman might have the intension she is going to hurt a most sacred member!!
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Momo 4-22-2008 @ 2:17AM
You people are hilariously... pathetic. There is nothing wrong with these images; you people are horribly conservative. You're also extremely feministic. *rolls eyes* Get your heads out of your asses.
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The Nancy 4-22-2008 @ 2:29AM
Why are some posted comments faded color?
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freda 5-04-2008 @ 8:21PM
i can see how the pics would offend some people but i don't find them offensive. however, i disagree with momo's comment that other people that have commented on these pics are "incredibly feministic." there are different forms of feminism. what is so wrong with feminism anyway? i think i'm a feminist but i'm not offended by these images- i think they're a bold move. btw, if i see one more "think about the children" argument, i think i might have to push for a move to get rid of it. these ad campaigns usually appear in a high fashion mag. if you can't take on the responsibility of protecting your child, don't force it upon society.
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Erika 4-22-2008 @ 4:57AM
For what it's worth, I don't believe the breast and crotch shots with the perfume bottle were ever print ads. I think they only appeared on Tom Ford's website, which had an "explicit content" warning before entering. And magazines include ads that might be of interest to their readers, so Tom's ads tend to appear in magazines such as Cosmo and Vanity Fair, neither of which I've ever seen at a doctor's or dentist's office. I've often noted, with some amusement, that, for a gay man, Tom sure does like to surround himself with naked women! Of course, his ads are effective...we've certainly noticed them, now haven't we?
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Judith 4-22-2008 @ 5:00AM
No class.
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janetK 4-22-2008 @ 10:03AM
You would think in today's world, a gay man would know about stereo typing and be against it. But to use women once again in the vulgar manner as he did for these ads shows that Tom Ford hasn't learned about human dignity for women and continues to use women and not honor them. I'm so sick of ads using naked women while the men are fully clothed (notice his Vanity Fair cover). STOP USING WOMEN AS SEX OBJECTS. And when will the advertising world learn that boobs, balls and crotch shots don't actually sell products. The world needs to stop this crap and place more value on human rights. He's no different then the old men of the Latter Day Saints church using those young girls as their wives. He's just better dressed.
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