Ann Summers has been forced to remove raunchy Fifty Shades of Grey-style posters showing a woman wearing nipple tassels and holding a whip ''
Ann Summers has been forced to remove raunchy Fifty Shades of Grey-style posters from its windows following a backlash from mothers and campaigners.
The high street lingerie chain confirmed several branches, located near stores targeted at children such as Mothercare and Build-A-Bear, have removed the provocative images.
The posters, which were rolled out in all 142 Ann Summers stores several weeks ago, show a woman kneeling on a red sofa, dressed in a cut-away leotard that reveals her breasts and nipple tassels.
She is holding a large leather whip and striking a provocative pose next to a handcuffed man in his underpants.
Mothers and campaigners have complained saying the the 'pornographic' images could be easily seen by children'
In what appears to be a reference to the bondage film Fifty Shades of Grey, which was released nationwide during Valentine's weekend, the text on the poster reads: Fact not fiction. Bring the film to life.
Last night Vivienne Pattison of campaign group Mediawatch-UK said her group had made complaints about nine branches of Ann Summers.
As a result the posters, which have been described as pornographic, have been removed from stores in Milton Keynes, Wimbledon, Sutton, Norwich, Eastbourne, Taunton, and the Ann Summers stores in all 18 Intu Chapelfield shopping centres.
A spokesman for Ann Summers confirmed the company has had six complaints from its retail stores and fewer than 20 complaints via email or letters.
Miss Pattison said the campaign potentially breached the recommendations made by the 2011 Bailey Review into the sexualisation of children, which was backed by Prime Minister David Cameron.
The high street lingerie chain confirmed several branches, located near stores targeted at children such as Mothercare and Build-A-Bear, have removed the provocative images''
The posters show a woman kneeling on a red sofa, dressed in a cut-away leotard, with a man in handcuffs'
She said: 'We are used to seeing the windows of Ann Summers featuring lingerie but this image, featuring a bare breasted (except for nipple tassels) model goes too far and is inappropriate for display in places which are likely to have numbers of children present.
'Any child passing this image will be subject to its overt sexual messaging and imagery. Government guidelines for retailers in the Bailey Review state that sexualised images should not be displayed in children's eye line.
'This government has done much to address the early sexualisation of children in our society and Ann Summers needs to be made aware that it too has a responsibility in this regard.'
Miss Pattison's concerns were echoed by members of the public, including Christian pastor Paul Burns, who said he was shocked to see the display on his way to church.
He said: 'I watched four separate families pull their children away from this window display. It has whips, it has a woman basically degraded with what you would expect to see in a porn film that people buy to watch. It is not what you expect to see in a family shopping centre.'
Taking to Twitter, others expressed similar views, with one writing: 'Please remove your offensive window displays based on 50Shades of Grey, sexualising children, inciting abuse of women.'
Another tweeted: 'Awful display in @Ann_Summers exposing children to sexualised imagery opposite @mothercareuk.'
A spokesman for Ann Summers said: 'Our Dark Desires campaign launched on 26th January 2015. Therefore, our campaign imagery has been visible in both our stores and online for a number of weeks now but it's only this week that we have received a handful of complaints.
'In regards to the 50SOG references, the 'Bring the film to life', we have taken inspiration from the themes and trends surrounding the film and the wording is a tongue-in-cheek 'nod to'.'
HABARI NDIYO HIYOOOO''HAPANA CHEZEA KINA SIE ''FLORA LYIMO ANASEMA HIVI'
SAY NO TO ABUSE AND RAPE KWA KINA SIE WANAWAKE''
Tumechoka na kumimina kutoka dm ili mjifunze''
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