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A Scottish lingerie firm has been banned from using a "sexually suggestive" billboard ad.

The poster, which was seen in East Renfrewshire in December, featured an image of a woman in lingerie, leaning forward to emphasise her bust.

The image was accompanied by the text "Tease the Season".

The Advertising Standards Authority ruled the ad run by Silks (Glasgow) Ltd "objectified women" and was "likely to cause serious or widespread offence".

The watchdog made its ruling after receiving a complaint.

'Suggestive pose'

The company, which trades as Silks, runs two stores in the Glasgow area.

Owner Marcella Louden defended the billboard and said her company was "in the business of making women feel good about themselves, not about objectifying them".

In upholding the complaint, the Advertising Standards Authority criticised the firm for failing to respond to its inquiries.

It said: "The purpose of the ad was to advertise a collection of lingerie and therefore we considered it was reasonable to feature a woman in limited amounts of clothing.

"The ad did not show the model's face, and focused only on her body which was posed leaning over in a way that emphasised her chest.

"The ASA considered that the model's pose and the image, combined with the text 'Tease the Season', was sexually suggestive.

"We considered that, by focusing entirely on the model's body without showing her head, and in the context of a sexually suggestive pose and byline, the image invited viewers to view the woman's body as a sexual object.

"For those reasons, we considered that the ad objectified women and we therefore considered that it was likely to cause serious or widespread offence."

The authority added: "The ad must not appear again in its current form."

Silks owner Marcella Louden said the firm had not received any complaints about the billboard.

She added: "There is a trend amongst brands at the moment for photographs in which the model's head isn't shown, in order to emphasise the product, so I never thought for a moment that anyone would find this image offensive.

"The set depicted was a premium product and was designed to appeal to women who want to wear something special under their Christmas party outfit."