Calvin Klein 'Threesome' Billboard Raises Eyebrows (VIDEO, POLL)

*Scroll down for video and poll*

NEW YORK -- A racy Calvin Klein billboard is raising even New Yorkers' jaded eyebrows, with some passers-by saying the clothing maker crossed the line with its sexy advertisement.

The new billboard shows a young woman lying on top of a man, while kissing another man. All three models are topless. Another male model reclines on the floor with his jeans unbuttoned.

"I think it's obscene," said Rachelle Brunn, who was passing by the extremely large billboard in Manhattan's Soho neighborhood. "They always have ads that are pushing the envelope, but this one is the worst I've seen since I've been here. My biggest concern is that it gives teens the wrong idea."

But Carmen Guzman wasn't bothered by the ad. She said Americans see this kind of advertising everywhere, especially in the Big Apple.

"This is really nothing new," Guzman said.

New York-based Calvin Klein has long been known for provocative advertising. Brooke Shields famously advertised second-skin Calvin Klein jeans in 1981 when she was a teenager, while model Kate Moss has also appeared in sexy ads.

Meanwhile, tourist Jodi Baron, who was visiting New York City from Cleveland, said the billboard's location didn't matter.

Story continues below

"One girl. Three guys. No shirts. It's not the best way to depict women," Baron said. "I don't care if it's New York City. I think it's really inappropriate."

Calvin Klein sells clothing and accessories, among other merchandise.

A representative for Calvin Klein declined to comment on the billboard.

Calvin Klein is owned by Phillips-Van Heusen Corp., which also owns the Bass and IZOD brands.

WATCH:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Quick Poll

What do you think about Calvin Klein's Billboard?

I'd stroll around SoHo to see it

Too hot for Houston

Who cares?

Share your vote on Facebook so your friends can take this poll

Get HuffPost Business On Facebook and Twitter!

Comments

[TchoupitoulasCanal]

The billboard got exactly what Calvin Klein paid for: Publicity.

[Marina56]

Very true.

[AmandaBC]

Thanks to big0ted prudes like you and their fake outrage... It's so easy to set s.tupid people up...

[delta7777]

.
Moral:
push the edge
and get greatly amplified media exposure for your ads
including Huffpost and commenters.

(far from pushing it, this ad barely tweaks the edge)
.

[delta7777]

.
Abercrombie&Fitch seems to have hit on a pretty well-accepted
advertsing program that very effectively sells their clothing
by using beautiful models having no character and wearing no clothing.
(of course there are no sexual overtones)

at least the Levi's models are wearing Levi's clothing.
(I think I'm getting about due for a new pair of 501's)
.

[themodernleader]

When I first glimpsed the billboard on the sensationalistic MSNBC I recognized hedonism. The second time I viewed the billboard I perceived hedonism. I hope I am not shown it a third time. Such public exploitation of carnality and venalty magnifies our decline. We go down the drain in blissful multi-sexual carnality and embrace. The organization who paid for that billboard should be ostracised.

[Lawrence Gullo]

What a way to go! :D

[gnomic]

Don't like it? Don't buy the product. Move on.

[ebanks84]

It gives teenagers the idea that "group" sex is okay and popular. That is a dangerous assumption for them to take in this day and age of AIDS! It also shows the "moral decay" of this country and how low we can go to sell sex!

[liarsclub75]

The threesome includes two hot men, so I'm okay with it :)

[blimie]

It shouldn't be on a bilboard. It's offensive, the models look underage. Little kids will see this, save it for magazines.

[it is me]

Oh my favorite...."what about the children?" Isn't is about time we face the facts that children see far worse than this all over the place? And wouldn't it finally be nice for children to see this and actually have a discussion with their parents as opposed to brushing everything under the rug as if it doesn't exist.

[MarkInEugene]

This billboard is a godsend because it exposes a huge amount of dysfunction and hypocricy in the American populous. Just read the comments and look at all the projections, denial, fear and anger that this add is generating. People are saying it's sick, it's pathetic, its immoral, its too much, its disturbing, its exploitive, it's nauseating, it's gross, it's this, it's that....

What if humanity faced sexuality head on and behaved in a frank, honest and truthful way toward it. Sensuality and beauty are some of the most satisfying joys in life, yet we destroy that joy over and over again with our oppressive judgements, negative projections and repressive beliefs.

The billboard is piece of artwork trying to illicit openess, honesty and truth. So take your minds out of the gutter and try to see the beauty in it. It's not going to help to repress, avoid, hide, ignore or condemn one of lifes most basic energies. Grow up!

[cceras]

Artwork? Puhlese!! It's an AD - designed to make money - to sell jeans (via sex). I suppose you read playboy for the great literature too! LOL

[Marina56]

Maybe you should learn the difference between "illicit" and "elicit. "

But of course, you also think that a commercial billboard is "art." LOL!!!

[AmandaBC]

"But of course, you also think that a commercial billboard is "art." LOL!!!"

It can be. Except in the mind of obtuse conservatives who f00l themselves thinking they're liberal...

[anewdayinDC]

"Our current life span is insufficient for us to gather the wisdom to be proper stewards of this planet"

That's why we come back :)

[AmandaBC]

It would make sense only if we came back with the full knowledge of our previous lives...

[fulanita]

Do people still wear Calvin Klein jeans?

[LisainNYC]

No.

[trinity]

Probably not...they are just way overpriced and probably made in some sweatshop in Malaysia.

[distance88]

At least it's equal opportunity in that it objectifies both men and women. Nothing new here, of course.

[watchful123]

Pathetic!

[jazzybo]

Looks like the other chick is not in the picture.

[HC4BO]

Those OUTRAGED at this billboard are the ones who would rather do something in private that they would NOT want to admit in public ...

Come out of the closets, people ...

Wonder what people would say to a 3 gals 1 guy billboard ...

[Nicon]

for that teat to wang ratio, a billboard just wont cut it, A 30 second spot on the Superbowl is needed there.

[Marina56]

I'm not outraged - I just think it's offensive because it targets young people, trying to sell the idea to them that risky sex is cool.

[AmandaBC]

Sure, let's ban "risky s.ex." What's risky s.ex? Whatever you decide it is. You're arrogant enough to impose your values (or lack thereof...) on the rest of the world...

[eristeleute]

I fail to see how what is depicted - four (let's assume) adults who are partially undressed - equates to "risky" sex. Having more partners can increase one's risk of eventually contracting an STD, but the real factor is not numbers but rather (1) the acts in which one engages and (2) the levels of protection used.

If these individuals had any combination of straight/gay sex with each other and used protection, that is no more "risky" than the implied straight sex between 1 guy and 1 girl that we already seek plastered over every magazine. If the depicted group merely "made out" and - what will survive the mods here - "sexually touched" each other, again, there is next to no risk of pregnancy or STD-infection.

Please do not imply that what is depicted necessarily equates to riskier sex than what we already see in advertising, or for that matter, risky sex at all.

Finally, as a postscript, are you equally enraged when you see a male pop/rap/movie star surrounded by several semi-nude women? I believe that the outrage about this ad has more to do with flipped norms and society's homophobia than anything about "risky" sex or the degradation of women.

[white mende man]

What's the fuss about anyway? If you've ever been inside an airport in europe there are pictures like these and they look great. Why are conservative Americans so ashamed of the human body anyway?