Lush cosmetics pulls ‘pornographic’ advert from stores

OFFENSIVE or inspirational? Lush cosmetics removes posters after a shopper complained that they were “pornographic”.

LUSH cosmetics has pulled risqué posters of nude women from its stores after a concerned mother’s complaint was upheld by the advertising watchdog.

The body-positive advert, which featured a group of women of varying shapes and sizes standing with their backs to the camera, was part of a promotional campaign for the company’s unpackaged cosmetics.

But several shoppers were offended by the poster, complaining that the “pornographic” image should not have been displayed in a public shopping centre.

“It was placed at a child’s eye level in a shopping centre. It shows naked women touching other naked women and it is shown in a public place,” one official complaint said.

“I was unable to shield my children from exposure to this advert as it was on a poster in the centre aisle of the shopping centre. When I contacted Lush, they said that the women in the

photo consented so it was OK — I’m sorry but I never consented for myself or my children to be exposed to nudity on our weekly shopping trip!”

“I am offended as this is nudity for the sake of causing a stir and is offensive and unnecessary,” another complainant said.

“The nudity is completely inappropriate for the family environment of the shopping centre.”

The Advertising Standards Board found that while the image was not sexualised, it was inappropriate.

Lush said its campaign was designed to highlight the “excessive packaging” used in the cosmetics industry and promote its range of more than 100 “naked” or unpacked products.

“The image in the window is a body positive reference to this fact, and is not in any way intended to cause any offence or upset,” the company said in response to the complaint.

“The women in the images are members of the Lush team, who felt strongly about this issue and volunteered to be part of our campaign ... The photos are shot not to titillate, but with the utmost respect for these wonderful human beings and their commitment to this cause.”

But the Advertising Standards Board found that, although the image was not “sexually suggestive”, it also did not “treat the issue of sex, sexuality and nudity with sensitivity” to its audience, which would include children.

The board said that “most reasonable members of the community” would understand the advert’s message as a statement about the damage packaging has on the environment, and “accept that the nudity in the advertisement is not pornographic or overtly sexualised”.

It said the placement of a model’s hand on the bottom of another model was “considered as an indication of affection, not a sexualised pose”.

Lush Australia staff members are featured in the cheeky advertising campaign.

Lush welcomed this finding and said that the Go Naked campaign had prompted an outpouring of support on social media, with customers thanking the company for “standing up for women’s natural bodies” and “celebrating people of all shapes and sizes with no airbrushing”, while taking a stand to reduce packaging.

“Its impact on me was so great that while in the shower, it made me cry,” a woman wrote on Facebook.

“I have spent a large majority of my adult life hating my body and your poster made me feel good. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing this.”

Lush Australia Director Peta Granger said that while the advert had been pulled, the board’s ruling would “in no way” affect the company’s future brand direction.

“All of us who work for Lush were incredibly proud to stand by this campaign,” Ms Granger said.

“We received a handful of complaints internally, which is pretty tiny compared to the thousands of message of support, praise and ‘likes’ from parents, teachers and retailers — let alone the hundreds of thousands of people who walked past our 39 windows over the three-week campaign.”

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