La Redoute, French Clothing Company, Apologizes For Naked Man In Children's Clothing Ad (PHOTOS)

La Redoute, a French clothing company, ran into some very hot water when visitors to its website noticed something unusual in one of its online ads, as Stylist UK first pointed out to us.

In the foreground of the advertisement in question, four young children play happily on a beach. In the background... a naked dude is going for a relaxing, pants-free stroll.

Yikes.

La Redoute promptly pulled the ad from its website and apologized on its Facebook page, writing in French:

"La Redoute apologizes for the photo published on its site and is taking steps to remove it. We have opted to delete all posts, including this picture.

"We are aware that it may offend the sensitivities of web surfers. We will strengthen the validation process of all brand communications so this can not happen again in the future."

We're just shocked that someone missed this. Really? No Photoshopper caught the, uh, PENIS in the KIDS' AD?

Bah. See the offending ad below, which we've censored. If you want to see the (NSFW!) uncensored photo, Stylist UK's got it here.

Comments

[LynnyC]

01:22 PM on 01/07/2012

The guy was obviously coming from the left of the shot, which probably took him like a minute or more to come across the frame to the right, but the photographer was like "well, whatever, if anyone cares they can Photoshop this oblivious nude dude out."
but no one did. And it's so obvious that he is right frickin there.

[Adam Dray]

02:42 PM on 01/05/2012

..what a wicked day for a nice dip wearing the birthday suit.......

[Adam Dray]

02:42 PM on 01/05/2012

I'm sorry but this actually made me laugh out loud! That's pretty hard to miss!

[Seral]

01:38 PM on 01/05/2012

Well that is a marketing win for that company. I wonder who will try the naked woman version of that.

[chiodo08]

01:15 PM on 01/05/2012

sooooooo...the no hands puppet show in daddy's lap is no go too?

[chiodo08]

01:13 PM on 01/05/2012

hilarious....

[imonlyhereforthelaughs]

12:14 PM on 01/05/2012

What they really meant to say:

"La Redoute apologizes to English speakers especially Americans, for the photo published on its site and is taking steps to remove it. We have opted to delete all posts, including this picture. "
"We are aware that it may offend the sensitivities of many American web surfers who still live in the Puritan era philosophically. We will strengthen the validation process of all brand communications to ensure ads such as this are only released to countries where Romantic languages are spoken."

[Wistfulslinking]

02:36 AM on 01/06/2012

brilliant

[Blonde4eva7]

11:58 AM on 01/05/2012

LOL! I don't think this was an accident. Before I looked at the pic, I was thinking "ok, maybe there is just a large crowd of people and the naked guy was like Waldo," but no, he's the ONLY guy in the background!! HAHA!

[Thomas Torres]

11:32 AM on 01/05/2012

WOW, what is the world coming to when Jerry Sandusky can get an endorsement deal?

[aurora114]

11:27 AM on 01/05/2012

wonder what the naked man is thinking if he has recognized himself...

[Robyn Singleton]

10:58 AM on 01/05/2012

Lol. Who doesn't have a naked man photobomb pic ??

[ZeFrenchy]

10:39 AM on 01/05/2012

"REDOUTABLE" ( aka formidable ) add campaign, La Redoute !

[accelerando]

10:11 AM on 01/05/2012

Here in America it used to be called "subliminal advertising". Never proved effective, but allegedly much used in the Mad Men era, if a bit more subtly.

That said, in France naked is seen as a normal condition of the human body and not necessarily sexual. Adult bodies are not a big forbidden mystery, the sight of which is supposed to scar children for life somehow. None of the weirdness there of John Ashcroft covering the breasts of statues at the Justice Department.

[DevonTexas]

10:07 AM on 01/05/2012

The French have a refreshing view of naked bathing and the naked body in general. Perhaps one day, the US will have that same sense of shamelessness about nudity.

[Lynn Dibartolomeo]

11:10 AM on 01/05/2012

never, we are prudes when it comes to that, although in movies or TV, children are supposed to expect and accept it..confusing message for them

[gordo001]

11:20 AM on 01/05/2012

I don't want to see someone who is 75 lbs. overweight flopping around on the beach.

[Blonde4eva7]

12:00 PM on 01/05/2012

FLOP FLOP! lol just picture it now ;)

[DevonTexas]

12:21 PM on 01/05/2012

then don't look. You have that option, you know.

[american-dolt]

10:04 AM on 01/05/2012

Maybe those little brats stole his clothes.