Pamela Anderson Ad Banned: 'Sexist and Degrading to Women'
Pamela Anderson's commercial for Dreamscape Networks' Crazy Domains was pulled in Britain for being "sexist and degrading to women," according to reports Wednesday.
The U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority is well known for banning advertisements that contain misleading or offensive content, and the 45-year-old former "Baywatch" star's ad is no exception.
Due to four complaints about Anderson's ad being sexist, the ASA ruled that the commercial could no longer be broadcast in its current form, according to Yahoo News U.K.
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In the ad for the domain and web hosting company, Anderson portrays a company boss chairing a meeting of men. Her female assistant pours cream into a coffee cup, as the camera focuses on her cleavage. Then, one of the men appears to have a fantasy about Anderson and her assistant dancing in bathing suits while covered in cream.
The fantasy comes to an abrupt end when Anderson sternly calls the man's name. The final scene includes another close-up of the actress' cleavage near a cup of coffee.
Head to the Herald Sun to watch the controversial video here.
The ASA explained their decision to remove the ad in a statement, according to Us magazine.
"The ASA understood that the ad was intended as a parody of a mundane business meeting and was intended to be humorous and light-hearted," the advertisement watchdogs said in their ruling. "Whilst we noted Dreamscape Networks' and Clearcast's comments about the female characters being portrayed as strong, confident business women, we considered that they were also portrayed sexually throughout the ad, not just during the fantasy sequence."
According to the ruling, the commercial was "sexually suggestive" and portrayed female coworkers as sexual objects.
"Because of that, we considered the ad was likely to cause serious offense to some viewers on the basis that it was sexist and degrading to women," said the ASA.
Alternately, Dreamscape Networks defended the ad as being "anything but degrading to women," and instead portrayed Anderson and her assistant as "attractive, dynamic and confident business people," according to Yahoo.
The company also noted that Anderson was hired for the "comical" ad because she is a "celebrity who was known for flaunting her body," according to Us.
