Sophie Dahl's Opium advert for YSL in which she lies completely naked apart from some impressive jewels, her pale skin glowing in the darkness and her fiery red hair falling around her head, is maybe one of the most iconic beauty adverts ever, but not everyone likes it - it's just been revealed in a new survey released by the Advertising Standards Agency that the advert is the eighth most-complained about in the last 50 years.
Apparently the ASA received 948 complaints, about it being, you guessed it - too sexually suggestive. Because of this, its use was confined to magazines and any billboards showing the image were removed, lest small children saw it.
Still, making the headlines is what it was designed to do, making YSL sexy again and catapulting them back into public awareness, so I doubt Tom Ford (who was Creative Director of YSL at the time) is crying. Plus Opium is still one of the most successful fragrances ever, so it just proves that a controversial advert is just a good one.
Despite the haters, Sophie is still proud of it. "I think the photograph is beautiful," she said. "It was seen as being anti-women, when in fact I think it is very empowering to women."
Agree?
