Demi Lovato’s eighth studio album Holy Fvck may have come out in August, but a promotional poster bearing the album art has now been banned in the UK for being “likely to cause serious offense to Christians.” According to CNN, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received complaints about the poster — which shows the singer laying across a cushioned crucifix in a leather outfit — from four people, which apparently prompted an investigation.
According to the report published by the ASA on Wednesday, the complainants “challenged whether the ad was likely to cause serious or widespread offense.” Others suggested the poster was “irresponsibly placed” at six different locations around London where children could see it.
The report continued:
“We considered that the image of Ms Lovato bound up in a bondage-style outfit whilst lying on a mattress shaped like a crucifix, in a position with her legs bound to one side which was reminiscent of Christ on the cross, together with the reference to ‘holy fvck’, which in that context was likely to be viewed as linking sexuality to the sacred symbol of the crucifix and the crucifixion, was likely to cause serious offense to Christians.”
As CNN lays out, the UK’s code for non-broadcast advertising says that ads must be prepared with a “sense of responsibility” and should not contain anything likely to cause serious or widespread offense.
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