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Truman Says

Is This Calvin Klein Ad Offensive to You?


Australia is not so happy with this Calvin Klein ad. The ad, featuring one of our favorite models Lara Stone, being restrained by a bunch of hunky dudes. While this may be a fantasy for us, Australian officials think that it promotes violence and rape towards women. My, oh my. Obviously, we'd never promote that sort of behavior -- it's uncouth -- but we do think that people take things a little too seriously. It's just imagery, for goodness sake, and we happen to think it has a cool, gritty, sexy feel to it, very much in line with the brand's aesthetic. Do we think that people are going to start beating women and raping them specifically because it's inferred they saw this ad? No. It's not even that strongly suggested, to be honest. And I'm guessing that there are just about a bajillion video games and TV shows with depictions of violence in them that Australia is OK with, so to rule out one singular image seems silly. And it seems that Calvin Klein is getting what it has always wanted from the sexual advertisements -- attention. So who wins now?

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