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Poundland has removed the image of a box of Twinings tea from a controversial social media advert after the company complained on Twitter.

The campaign displayed a toy elf in a suggestive pose with a plastic doll in front of a box of Twinings Classics tea.

Twinings tweeted that the picture "misuses our product".

The picture has reappeared, but without the box of Classics Selection tea and a caption: "Spot the difference?"

Poundland refused to comment on the change, but all the previous offending pictures had disappeared from Twitter by 17:30 GMT on Thursday.

Twinings tweeted about the Poundland campaign: "We had no involvement in this and... it is obviously not reflective of our brand values."

Poundland has been running its "Naughty Elf" adverts since the beginning of December.

They have included tableaux of a toy elf in a hot tub with naked dolls and another of the toy elf playing strip poker.

Divided opinion

The campaign has divided opinion on Twitter, with some praising it as "brilliant", others damning it as "outdated misogyny".

Many tweets speculated that Poundland's Twitter Feed had been hacked.

However, Poundland confirmed the adverts were genuine.

Marketing Director Mark Pym said: "The love on Facebook has been overwhelming, and that's because it connects with our shoppers.

"We're proud of a campaign that's only cost £25.53 and is being touted as the winning marketing campaign this Christmas!"

A spokesperson for the Advertising Standards Authority confirmed they had had eight complaints about the advertising campaign, all on Thursday, claiming that it was offensive and unsuitable to be seen by children.

He said: "Because the complaints have only just come in we will assess them and then decide whether there is a problem, and whether the advertisements need to be investigated."