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

advertisement

"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

[AmandaBC]

Oh yeah, sure the kiiiiiiiii­iiiiiiiiid­s...

From George Carlin's last standup act:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rIPe5akN48

[sedum]

A MAN DUH

I said Zoloft not Crack.

[PotsieWeber]

If young people want to do this sort of thing (have sex and enjoy life) they should at least take precautions to make sure that adults and members of the GOP don't see it!

[dreadylocks]

hahahahaha­hahahahaha­ha!!1

[ubeman]

They can do as they wish, but as for me, I dont buy Calvin Klien and have never let my children either. And no, I'm not religious at all. You can be for some basic public decency without being a wing-nut.

[vibroluxor]

The ad speaks to CK loss of marketshare to A&F. too bad both of these companies have to resort to such base appeal.

[stepintothelight]

Uh???

American Apparel???

[Burnsey]

A&F refers to Abercrombie and Fitch, who have wonderful catalogs.

[wm1066]

As someone who has worked in the photo/Ad world I have always disliked CK ads, I stopped buying CK stuff in the early 90's when they had another distasteful ad. They rely on bad sexual themes too much.

[biglover]

Oh please, Stop with the distasteful crap. More hippocrisy from the right wing religious nutcases.

[Moderatenation]

Just another marketing ploy to pursuade consumers to pay too much for jeans.

[jwatso7]

Yeah, we don't want to corrupt our children - the same children who take naked pictures of themselves and "sext" them to other people. Our kids see much worse than this billboard on MTV, and nobody's trying to stop that.

[DCCommuter]

If parents don't want their kids to see MTV they cancel cable. You can't cancel a billboard.

[SoVerPostEr]

Hmm, so it's the kids' fault.
They're such a bad influence on advertisers.
Shame on them!

[jwatso7]

I fear my sarcasm led folks to misunderstand my point. By no means was I blaming kids, and I agree parents are ultimately responsible for monitoring their children - something that's difficult to do with a billboard. My point was intended to be that our kids are a lot more sophisticated that most people ever give them credit for - and they've probably seen worse than that billboard from a dozen different sources. I think if we're out to protect our children from negative influences, this is fairly tame by a lot of standards and there are bigger fish to fry.

[rbndc]

You wonder why young people might get the idea to send naked pictures of themselves?

[Norak]

Are you suggesting that's acceptable behavior for your kids? Just how do you think they learned and observed that behavior if not from public displays so they thought it was not so unusual.

[Kevin Robles]

What's the big deal? The AD is supposed to be sexy. You can obviously tell they are going in a threesome, but if you don't know what it is, you can't tell. Its not porn, and to a child it would just look like they are kissing and hugging. End of story

[denisew]

Agree whole heartedly.

But, I wouldn't want it in my neighborhood.

[fashfoto]

That's got to be the most stupid ad I've seen! It's not sexy. It's pathetically tacky!

On the other hand, I suppose that CK's target market is unsophisticated teenagers and high school dropouts!

Sexy can be done with wit and style; this ad is merely laughable and champions mediocrity.

[Lawrence Gullo]

I think its a sweet ad. Polyamorous themes don't get a lot of exposure outside of really negative attacks. This looks affectionate and consensual. And it's nice that not just one gender is being exploited as the sex object.

[tb92]

Seriously, what's to say that this isn't a happy and committed relationship being represented? Good for them!

[Aabby]

fo.ols, you don’t want the children to see it yet you give it all this free press that will get it on the 6 o’clock news? very smart.

[crispee]

The ONLY reason any one is upset is that there is another guy in this -- if this was a guy with a few girls no one would even talk about it.

[LuckyLT2]

So true. Diddy had an ad with two girls and one of them had her head in his lap. And how long was that posted?

[daffey]

How does this stir controversy? Our notions of sexuality that this would offend were based on old Judeo-Christian values that have long since been discarded by our society. Now individuals may have their own fiscal values about what is right and wrong, but that’s one person’s point of view. All our society says is that sexual ethics exists only within the framework of two or more consenting adults, or teenagers who use protection (using protection the only other ethical demand). At least as of now, that’s it. This sign doesn’t seem to violate our existing ethic, so what’s the beef? If we don’t like it, return to the roots of previous morality or go find a society that has a morality rooted in those standards.

Of course could it badly influence kids? Sure, that could be an argument. But typically unless it is a right wing pundit, we’ve been authoritatively told that kids aren’t influenced by this sort of thing. And even if they are, at least Calvin Klein stands to make some big bucks from the controversy - and that is the important thing after all!

[Stagehnd1]

Haha..The people opposed to this billboard are just upset because they wish they could have a threesome. It's sad really that they're so closed minded.

[Lawrence Gullo]

Hear, hear. I reckon threesomes or triads could save more relationships than they destroy if people would relax a bit.

[SoVerPostEr]

And you know this how?

[EJ2968]

Not a threesome, it looks like an orgy! One I'd like to be apart of... with consenting adults of course. I don't think there is anything wrong with this ad. Like everyone else said... it is an AD! CK is getting its money worth out of this one.... it has everyone talking about CK....