A watchdog group in the U.K. has ruled a poster advertisement featuring Rihanna should be restricted to places where it cannot be seen by children, because it’s just too damn sexy.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) which, according to their website, is “the UK’s independent regulator of advertising across all media,” including marketing online, said the photo was too “sexually suggestive.”
The poster (seen above) is an advertisement for her new perfume Rogue. It features Rihanna looking fiercely Rihanna-ish and giving what I refer to as the “Rihanna will take none of your shit today or any other damn day, so please move the fuck on if you are full of shit” look.
Parlux Fragrances, the company behind the poster called bullshit on the whole thing, responding that the nudity was not improper nor offensive, suggestive or demeaning.
The ASA accepted Rihanna was mainly covered and had a facial expression “of defiance rather than vulnerability”. But it also said: “While we did not consider the image to be overtly sexual, we considered that Rihanna’s pose, with her legs raised in the air, was provocative.
“Because of this, and the fact that Rihanna appeared to be naked except for high heels, we concluded that the ad was sexually suggestive and should have been given a placement restriction to reduce the possibility of it being seen by children.”
There are so many words in those paragraphs that hurt my brain. According to the Daily Mail, Parlux Fragrances said while they relied on Rihanna’s provocative image as a selling point, they don’t believe the image meets the criteria for a placement restriction:
Parlux Fragrances said they had received no other complaints, adding that Rihanna was known for her provocative songs and persona, which the advert sought to capture. The company said it had done so without featuring improper nudity or offensive or suggestive imagery, adding that the majority of women would not consider the photo of Rihanna demeaning.
Rather, they claim, Rihanna is depicted as being in a position of power, as indicated by the name Rogue, which the company claims suggests ‘one with the courage to challenge boundaries’.
Ultimately this works out great for the people marketing and selling Rihanna’s new perfume because now everyone’s talking and writing about it (who knows, maybe Parlux Fragrances were the actual ones who called in the only complaint the poster received. #conspiracies #wakeupsheeple).
But there’s also one very important thing that must be taken into consideration. It’s something we all know and have known for a very, very long time. It is an undisputed, solid, totally ironclad truth: Rihanna gives no fucks. Zero. None. Nada. Zilch. She ran out of fucks to give and probably will never will have a fuck to give ever again. So do whatever the hell you want with her defiant, sexy, possibly nude, provocative, empowering poster, Advertising Standards Authority. Rihanna will be over here, like this: