As 2013 comes to an end, we’ve been highlighting the best and worst ads the year has had to offer.
As such, we’d like to take a moment to acknowledge some of the ads that either never made it to the airwaves or were quickly pulled off of them for being too risqué. Or for reasons that are frankly sort of silly (looking at you, United Kingdom).
Here are five ads that were banned in 2013:
A UK Web Host Does Its Best GoDaddy Impression
What is it with web hosting companies and sexist advertising? While GoDaddy has since abandoned the sexually provocative Super Bowl ads that made it famous, it appears UK counterpart Dreamscape Networks is more than happy to carry the flag.
In June, the United Kingdom’s Advertising Standards Authority banned a Dreamscape Networks ad that depicted a male office worker’s fantasy in which his boss — played by Pamela Anderson —and her assistant gyrated with each other while wearing bikinis and covered in cream.
While the ASA said the fantasy objectified Anderson and her assistant, Dreamscape argued that in fact, the ad’s female characters were portrayed as “attractive, dynamic, and confident business people.
We’ll let you judge for yourself:
Carl’s Jr. Uses Radio To Work Around An Ad Banned In New Zealand
This past spring, New Zealand banned an ad by 72andSunny for Carl’s Jr.’s Memphis BBQ burger in which two attractive women in bikini tops and jean shorts feign sexual interest in each other before choosing instead to eat the burgers.
Carl’s Jr.’s responded with a fairly clever radio ad by Special Group that described in painstaking detail the actions that took place during the TV spot and might have been more suggestive than the original.
Here’s the banned TV ad:
Australia Bans Ad Depicting Pharmacy Sex
In spite of a very clever concept, Australia’s Commercials Advice banned an ad earlier this month for Four Seasons Condoms that showed a couple having sex in a convenience store.
The ad, meant to promote Four Seasons’ line of “Naked” condoms, played on the way consumers are able to try on clothing before they buy it by showing a couple trying out different condoms in various sexual positions at a pharmacy, all while store employees comment on the different condoms’ fit and appearance.
The commercial is quite funny and there is no actual nudity, but it is clear that two people in it are having sex. So far it has been viewed more than 5 million times on YouTube:
Check out the rest here
