The first ad claimed "this Saturday it’s all going on in The Sun". On-screen text read "sexy week" and was accompanied by pictures of Klass in a bikini, followed by a voiceover trailing 50 "spicy tips for hot sex" and a countdown of Britain’s ten "sexiest babes".
In the second ad, the voiceover said: "Our Sexy Week climaxes tomorrow with the winner of Britain's sexiest babes." The ad also promoted a "sexclusive" story and showed the front cover of Fabulous magazine with Chloe Madeley displaying her midriff .
The second ad was also shown in Scotland for The Scottish Sun, as well as on the ITV Player, before ‘Britain's Got Talent’ and ‘British Animal Honours 2013’
The Advertising Standards Authority noted that the first ad featured a woman in a bikini and the second ad featured women in nightclothes and a cropped top, but ruled they were not overtly sexual images and the women were not in sexualised poses.
Although the voiceover in the first ad was mildly sexual, the ASA said it was describing the next issue of the paper and that Clearcast’s restriction preventing the ad from being broadcast in or around programmes directed at or likely to appeal particularly to children, was sufficient.
The ASA concluded the ads were not inappropriate for broadcast when children might be watching TV in family viewing time.
Although the second ad contained "mildly sexual content", the ASA noted it also featured women clothed in other styles of dress and promoted the acting talents of Sheridan Smith.
The ASA acknowledged that while some viewers might consider the 'Britain's ten sexiest babes' feature to be sexist and to objectify women, in light of the content of the ads, it did not consider The Sun’s promotion of the feature inappropriate or likely to cause offense.
In its ruling, the ASA said as viewers would be likely to be aware of the kind of articles The Sun features and the ad was representative of the paper, and because the ad was not "overtly sexually provocative or explicit" it was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.
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