This 'sexually suggestive' Rihanna ad just got censored in Britain

This 'sexually suggestive' Rihanna ad just got censored in Britain

Rihanna doesn't do modest.

The pop queen is stirring up controversy in Britain for a raunchy ad that shows her practically naked with her legs raised against a bottle of Rogue perfume. The country's advertising ethics agency said it received complaints about the "sexually suggestive" ad, which some claimed is inappropriate for children.

The ethics agency ultimately decided that while the ad is "unlikely to be demeaning to women or to cause serious or widespread [offense]," Rihanna's pose is "provocative" enough to warrant restrictions to where it can be displayed.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

For their part, the ad's creators defended their work, saying it depicted the pop star as being in a "position of power... which suggested one with the courage to challenge boundaries." Decide for yourself below. -- Jordan Valinsky

See more

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Jordan Valinsky is the lead writer for Speed Reads. Before joining The Week, he wrote for New York Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tracked the intersection between popular culture and the internet for The Daily Dot. He graduated with a degree in online journalism from Ohio University.