The Advertising Standards Authority, the U.K.'s advertising regulator, banned two more American Apparel ads this week.
The ruling was controversial not just because the ASA appears to dislike ads that use sex to sell, but because the complaint came from just one British consumer. The ads only appeared on American Apparel's web site, which is based in the U.S., and thus untouchable by the ASA.
The ruling therefore appeared to be an attempt by the ASA — a self-regulatory body — to extend its jurisdiction into foreign countries that have a lot more publishing freedom than the U.K. does.
We spoke to AA CEO Dov Charney about his feelings for the ASA — he dislikes it, obviously — and, separately, a source leaked us this complete collection of AA ads that have been restricted by the U.K.
Warning: Some of these ads involve nudity or sexual themes. Business Insider has (ironically) partially censored the more explicit ones because of our own internal content publishing rules. They may not be safe for your workplace.
AA CEO Dov Charney says: "I think they're [the ASA] kind of a rogue law-and-order operation. But they're not a real government agency."
"They're promoting a conservative, politically correct agenda."
"They're a conservative watchdog agency and they present themselves as law enforcement. But they're not sanctioned by the government."
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