'Teenage sluts' likely to cause <BR>widespread offence

LONDON - A mailing to members of a Bertelsmann-owned book club carrying details of adult movies with titles such as Wild Teenage Sluts was slammed by the advertising watchdog, which said it was likely to cause widespread offence.

The mailing to members of the Book Club Associates book club carried pictures of hit movies on its front cover, including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, but inside were details of a range of adult movies.



Complainants argued that the material was offensive and unsuitable to be seen by children and the Advertising Standards Authority agreed.



BCA argued that all the videos advertised in the promotional book had received an 18 certificate and were on sale to the public. It said that both pages giving details of the adult movies were marked as containing videos in the "adult" category.



However, the ASA said that, because the booklet advertised movies such as Shrek and Star Wars on the cover, children were likely to pick it up and it concluded that because BCA had included no warning it was likely to cause widespread offence.



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