Female Bottoms Acceptable – ITC Report

The ITC has said it is unlikely to alter its guidelines on the use of nudity in television advertising following research it has commissioned into the subject.

The research showed that whilst there is some room for experimentation in advertising, advertisers will have to continue to exercise caution. Viewers did not object to female bottoms, although there was an aversion to seeing men from behind, especially when they spread their legs. Attitudes towards nudity were surprisingly complex; viewers thought nipples could be shown, for appropriate products, and one breast is less offensive than two; topless men were not considered to be naked at all.

Viewers also identified commercials that they considered acceptable for screening before and after the watershed; something explicit in the middle of Basic Instinct was more acceptable than in the middle of Coronation Street.

The ITC commissioned the research after so many complaints were received after the showing of a nipple in the Neutralia shower gel ad.