Rivers hit by ad complaints

By By Wenlei Ma | 24 March 2011
 

Clothing retailer Rivers has come under fire for the "eroticisation" of women in its latest catalogue ad campaign, with the Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) receiving several complaints.

An ASB spokesperson told AdNews that the body has already received 15 formal complaints about the ad campaign as of this morning. Rivers has attracted public criticism for its ad campaign from activist group Collective Shout, who seeks to "name, shame and expose" brands for sexualising women and children in advertising.

The ad in question portrays a pair of fishnet stockings-clad female legs protruding from under a couch. It is accompanied by the text "Deadly Deals".

Collective Shout co-founder Melinda Lizsewski told AdNews: "People have contacted us saying they found this catalogue in the lift out of their local newspapers. We have encouraged people to contact Rivers and the Ad Standards board about Rivers' eroticisation of violence against women.

"Rivers response has been disappointing for our supporters. Many of our supporters were customers of Rivers, but now they have pledged to boycott the store."

Rivers' advertising is created in-house. At the time of publication, Rivers has not returned requests for comment.

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