The ad, which appeared on the Sci-Fi Channel at 3.25pm and again in the early evening, is for Dublin-based mobile download club Red Circle Technologies. The ad was created in-house, and showed clips of naked women with their breasts covered or obscured.
A voiceover said: "See hot videos of girls in your area now. Check out Dirty Debbie from Blackpool as she gets hot and bothered. Or how about a naughty minx Sharon from Brighton as she gets hot under the covers."
Three viewers asked whether the ad was suitable to be shown at these times and the Advertising Standards Authority challenged whether the ad was suitable for scheduling at all, other than on certain adult entertainment channels.
According to Red Circle, the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre had imposed a timing restriction on the ad for a 9pm scheduling. The company said it did not believe the content of the ad was "sexually explicit or overtly suggestive" and that it was in line with the kind of "glamour" images seen in daily tabloid newspapers.
The Sci Fi Channel said it broadcast the ad before the 9pm watershed by mistake and apologised.
The ASA said: "We considered that because the content of the service featured videos of topless women in sexually provocative poses, the service was of a sexual nature and should have been broadcast on encrypted elements of adult entertainment channels only and should not have been broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel at any time."
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