Underwear Ads Irk North London Orthodox
While some Haredim in Jerusalem have succeeded in getting images of women removed from public advertising there, the Orthodox community in North London has had less luck on that front.
In London, it is not all women’s images they find offensive, but rather those of Calvin Klein models wearing nothing but their skimpy underwear on the sides of public buses driving on routes through Orthodox neighborhoods. According to the Jewish Chronicle, “a claim that a lingerie advert placed on buses that ran through Stamford Hill was ‘offensive’ and ‘irresponsible’ has been rejected by the advertisers’ watchdog because there was ‘no explicit nudity.’”
The Advertising Standards Authority agreed that the ads, featuring five women in underwear — some made of sheer material — could be construed as distasteful to those with strongly held religious beliefs. However, the Authority said that since the women are not naked, and because they are wearing underwear in an ad explicitly meant to market underwear, it sees no reason to remove the ads from the sides of the buses.
The complainant, a member of the Haredi community, expresses special concern about children seeing the ads. The Authority’s response was that, indeed, the pictures might be considered “mildly sexual,” but that “the nature of the product meant that viewers [presumably children included] of the ad were less likely to regard the ad as gratuitous or offensive, and…the poses of the model were natural.”
If members of the Orthodox community in Stamford Hill really do take offense, then maybe they should move to Jerusalem, where they will be able to not only avoid seeing women in bras and panties, but also any ads with women at all.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
