Fab Flash: Tom Ford Sunglasses Ad Banned in Italy

April 22, 2008

After being published last month in three Italian magazines, the country's advertising watchdog, the Institute for Advertising Self-Discipline (IAP) has banned Tom Ford Eyewear ads. This specific image, showing a sunglasses-wearing woman with a man's finger in her mouth was ruled "markedly vulgar" because the "scene evokes an offending and abusive act against women, which degrades the dignity of the person." On the Tom Ford website, the entire collection of Spring 2008 ads are acknowledged to be sexually explicit. Do you find this image to be offensive?

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67 Comments

3 years 1 week

Perhaps the finger is Berlusconi's?

lynbird 5 years 5 days

No way. She's biting a guy's finger. End of story.

Danz 5 years 3 weeks

Oh...you need to see the others. This is just the icing on the cake.

acyl 5 years 3 weeks

I actually think it's somewhat offensive. Of course it depends on how u look at it.It does look like the man's finger is aggressively penetrating her mouth. And what if she's biting out of pain or resistance, not dominance?Yes I can see how it makes the woman look like she's forced to have this object in her mouth.

acyl 5 years 3 weeks

I actually think it's somewhat offensive. Of course it depends on how u look at it. It does look like the man's finger is aggressively penetrating her mouth. And what if she's biting out of pain or resistance, not dominance? Yes I can see how it makes the woman look like she's forced to have this object in her mouth.

magickalrealism 5 years 3 weeks

Offensive? Maybe. Deserving of censorship? No.

juicylove 5 years 3 weeks

haha okay so after seeing this i decided to google and find more of his ads to see why yall are like.. this is tame for him. and wow. its funny that they banned this because.. the others are like, borderline porn probably. i definitly dont see this as offensive especially compared to the others.. but i still think this one is ugly:)

juicylove 5 years 3 weeks

maybe its because its the middle finger? either way this looks ugly to me:S it would have been better without some random hand?

carhornsinapril 5 years 3 weeks

it looks more like she's abusing him than the other way around!

elmosisi 5 years 3 weeks

tom ford knows what he's doing...getting press by making controversial ads

Yukino 5 years 3 weeks

I don't find this "offensive", but it's not attractive to me in any way.

Echidna girl 5 years 3 weeks

If you people don't know what fish hooking is - look it up before commenting! Definitely abusive. Kudos to the Italians for banning this.

starinajar 5 years 4 weeks

I just think this looks gross.

shalee55 5 years 4 weeks

OH PLEASE !

shalee55 5 years 4 weeks

OH PLEASE !

fashion4ward 5 years 4 weeks

I saw this a month ago and just knew it would cause some trouble.

Jenny86 5 years 4 weeks

Banned in Italy? They're less conservative than us in America. I agree that his ads are vulgar, especially the men's perfume ad where the bottle is in between the women's thighs. I love Tom Ford (the person) and his sunglasses! I love the perfumes as well. I love Oud Wood, which is an Arabian blend of musks and oils.

herfallingstar 5 years 4 weeks

ah whatever. I think that photo looks ridiculous anyways.

sundaygreen 5 years 4 weeks

this is hot.

sundaygreen 5 years 4 weeks

this is hot.

meeshee 5 years 4 weeks

i think it can be seen either way. it can be seen as empowering for women because she is biting him, but.. since it's his middle finger, it's basically like he's "f**king" her mouth.. sorry for the rude language, but it's true. it's like he's doing that and she likes it. it can be seen both ways

jessicahaleigh 5 years 4 weeks

i think this one is fine, but some of the others might be offensive ...x.jessica[zoeandjessicasick.blogspot.com]

jessicahaleigh 5 years 4 weeks

i think this one is fine, but some of the others might be offensive ... x. jessica [zoeandjessicasick.blogspot.com]

jessicahaleigh 5 years 4 weeks

i think this one is fine, but some of the others might be offensive ... x. jessica [zoeandjessicasick.blogspot.com]

CocoChic 5 years 4 weeks

Ok, now that I know what a fish hook is, I can see their point. <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fish+hook">Urban Dictionary</a>

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67 Comments

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