Jun 15, 2009 9:34 am US/Eastern
Sexy Calvin Klein Ad Stirs Controversy In NYC
Billboard Features Four Partially Clothed Models In Sexually Suggestive Positions
Watchdog: Racy 'Threesome' Ad Act Of Desperate Designer Who Is No Longer Relevant In Fashion Community
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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This racy Calvin Klein billboard has been stirring controversy in downtown New York with some calling for it to be removed.
CBS
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Mark Wahlberg models in Calvin Klein underwear advertisement.
AP
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Fashion designer Calvin Klein was born in the Bronx in 1942.
AP
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It's hard to offend a New Yorker with an advertisement, but that's not to say that people won't keep trying.
The latest racy billboard hoping to shock people is in SoHo, and it features four partially clothed models in a sexually suggestive situation.
A billboard is supposed to catch your eye, and in this instance, consider that mission accomplished.
"It's just completely out there," one mother said. "I don't want the kids to see it."
"I think it's telling people it's okay to do that, and it's kind of gross," Aleasha Stephens, a tourist from Houston, says.
Photography teacher Laura Friesen snapped a photo of it, and plans to discuss it with her students in Denver.
"I took a photo to show it's shocking, but it can also be on a billboard in NY, and this is what can be in New York," Friesen told CBS station WCBS-TV in New York City.
The billboard uses sex to sell Calvin Klein jeans, and it is not the first time – and that's why some people just shrug it off.
"I don't care about sexual ads," Maria Mojena, a Boston resident visiting New York City, said. "They don't offend me or provoke me in any way."
Barbara Lippert is Ad Critic for Adweek Media Magazine, and said the billboard seems like a desperate act for Calvin Klein.
"I think he really wants to get back into the ballpark because he doesn't seem relevant anymore," Lippert said.
"The worst thing would be to get no attention at all. So if you need to throw in another two or three dudes to get that attention so people will say, 'what' and really give it a second look, he'll do that."
"Any publicity is good publicity, and people are talking about it, and that's all he wants," Stephens said.
Asked about the message in the ad, a Calvin Klein spokesman said the "intention was to create a very sexy campaign that speaks to our targeted demographic."
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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