The campaign, created by Bartle Bogle Hegarty, showed scenes of children whose faces had been aged. One showed a girl sitting on the edge of a bed wearing underwear. A man was lying behind her, with his head out of shot, wearing boxer shorts.
Another showed a young boy in a urinal, looked aged and very miserable. Just visible is a man whose belt is undone. Both ads featured the words: "Abuse through prostitution steals children's lives. Help end this obscenity...".
The complaints against the ad came from all over the country, with people objecting that the ads were distressing and offensive and unsuitable for children. Some thought that the aged children's faces looked as though they were bruised.
Barnardo's, which launched the campaign in an effort to reform laws on child prostitution, said that it did not want to upset children with the campaign, but to raise awareness of the effects of prostitution on children.
The Advertising Standards Association said that it did not think the ads were distressing or unsuitable for children. However, the ad showing the girl sitting on the edge of the bed had already been changed for use as a poster, with the man's legs removed. The ASA also said that this poster was unlikely to cause widespread offence.
Last year, the ASA cleared BBH's ads for Barnardo's that showed the effect of abuse on children when they grow up, drawing 18 complaints nationwide.
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