Nightclub criticised for nudity in ad

The club said the advert was pushing the boundaries

The Ministry of Sound nightclub in London has been criticised for an advertisement featuring "gratuitous" male and female nudity.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the club disregarded industry guidelines in the advert placed in the magazine "Time Out".

A woman in a see-through negligee was pictured in the advert leaning into the corner of the room.

The naked torso of a man was pictured beneath her and he appeared to be on top of another woman.

Codes disregarded

A member of the public complained to the ASA, saying the advertisement was offensive.

The south London "superclub" said the advert was supposed to push the boundaries of advertising and was targeted at the "cutting edge of youth culture".

It argued that "Time Out" is a paid-for magazine with mainly adult readers and said that they monitored advertisements closely for examples of exploitation, racism, sexism, deception or illegality.

The ASA said it was concerned by the advertisers' "apparent disregard for the codes".

It concluded that the advertisement was gratuitous and likely to cause offence and warned the advertisers not to repeat the approach.