Binge show ‘Love Me’ receives complaints to Ad Standards over sexy billboard

Australia’s latest TV series has attracted some drama off-screen, with its sexy advertisement receiving a number of complaints from disgruntled citizens.

Australia’s latest TV series has attracted some drama off-screen, with its sexy advertisement receiving a number of complaints from disgruntled citizens.

Binge’s first original show Love Me, starring Australian actors Hugo Weaving and Bojana Novakovic, hit streaming on Boxing Day and has been lauded for its raw portrayal of sex, love and grief.

But some people aren’t too passionate about the show’s sexy promotional picture which has been splashed across billboards around the country, showing Novakovic naked in bed with her co-star, Bob Morley.

Australia’s advertising standards authority, Ad Standards, have received a number of complaints about the photo, which has also been plastered on city buses, with some dubbing it “highly in appropriate” and “obscene”.

Ad Standards have received complaints about Love Me’s promo picture.

The photo shows two of the lead characters in bed together.

News.com.au understands some of the complaints included:

– How do you explain why the woman is clearly indicating not wearing anything with a man hugging her behind. How does this pass censorship?

– It is huge billboard portraying sex and nudity. It is obscene and lacks refinement.

– The billboard is of a sexually suggestive nature and highly inappropriate.

Ad Standards have since dismissed all complaints about the billboard.

Binge’s executive director Alison Hurbert-Burns said the streamer took feedback “seriously” but the photo was intended to reflect love in the modern world.

“Our goal with Love Me was to put love out there in all forms in contemporary Australia. It has been incredible to see how much Australia has got behind the series and the fandom it has provoked,” Hurbert-Burns said.

“We always take feedback seriously but feel the show and all of the assets we have created to promote it reflect the heartfelt exploration of love in today’s world no matter your age or stage of life.”

The show has been celebrated for having older characters engage in sex, including Weaving’s Glen and his love interest Anita (Heather Mitchell), who play characters in their 60s.

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Heather Mitchell and Hugo Weaving share some of Love Me’s most graphic sex scenes. Picture: Sarah Enticknap

Mitchell told the Sydney Morning Herald that most roles on offer for actors in their 60s follow storylines of ill health.

“[Glen and Anita] were sexually active and I think that’s the other thing we avoid – wanting to think about older people feeling passionate, having sex, desiring each other, wanting adventure. I’m in my 60s and I want all those things, I pursue all those things,” Mitchell told the publication.

“Desire doesn’t end, it doesn’t have a use-by date. We’re human beings and we have feelings. We long for company and some people, at any age, pursue that intimacy. I think it’s really great. And Hugo and I both felt very strongly about that.”

Love Me’s premiere marked a milestone month for the local streaming platform, with January 9 seeing the most hours people spent streaming on Binge.

This was largely thanks to the New Year’s Day release of Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts and the premiere of Sex and the City reboot, And Just Like That.

Originally published as Binge show ‘Love Me’ receives complaints to Ad Standards over sexy billboard