Detergent ad removed for showing female undergarment images in Indonesia

Indonesian detergent brand Deterjen Sayang billboard ad containing images of undergarments has been removed on 1 November 2022. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Deterjen Sayang for comment.The ad located in Pekalongan, Central Java contained images of the bras and panties resulting in complaints from the public. According to authorities, the advertiser didn't have a permit to have it installed. 

https://www.facebook.com/pekalonganinfo/photos/a.1992717624348481/3581993632087531/

The acting head of the municipal police of Pekalongan Regency, Budi Rahardjo, said his team would usually remove the ads themselves, but in this instance, the owner of the ad wanted to remove it from the billboard himself.  Just a month before this advertisement case, the Pekalongan Regency shared the details on its official Facebook page that advertisers need to go to its office and seek permission for installing advertisements or banners - from its office itself.

Separately, there have been other cases outside of Indonesia where displaying of women's undergarments - or lack there of- have been called out by advertising bodies and the public.

Last year, Adidas' sports bra ads featuring bare-breasted women has been called out by Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and a ban has been put in place after investigations into the ads began. The ads, published in February, featured a tweet of a photo grid of 25 pairs of bare breasts along with a couple of images of women’s backs after wearing sports bras, as well as two posters featuring a similar grid and a cropped version of individual ladies. The campaign also came with the tagline #SupportisEverything. The ad campaign was done in collaboration with Omnicom Group's TBWA.

Some complainants considered the ads' use of nudity as gratuitous as they objectified women by sexualising them to body parts. They challenged whether they were harmful and offensive. Meanwhile, other complainants challenged if the poster ads were appropriate for display as they could be seen by children.

In Malaysia, feminine hygiene brand Libresse  withdrew an ad from various channels and explained that it was not the brand's intention to offend any woman or the community. The campaign in question was its V-Kebaya Limited Edition range which brought to life V-Zone confidence and femininity through a modern interpretation of the Nyonya kebaya floral designs. Done in collaboration with creative agency Muma Malaysia, the brand reimagined the Nyonya kebaya chrysanthemum and peony designs with the vulva as the heart of the floral embroidery.

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