Agent Provocateur Ad Not Banned By ASA, Still Terrifying (NSFW VIDEO, POLL)

We now bring you this surprising news: Britain's Advertising Standards Authority has reviewed a fashion ad and found it to be... totally acceptable.

"Fleurs du Mal," a film showcasing Agent Provocateur's Soiree collection, was submitted for review to the ASA back in November after receiving a single complaint.

The film features a woman in a silky robe getting a "prank phone call" with no one on the other end. Suddenly, lingerie-clad women start popping up everywhere, slinking around and dragging her into a room where they... well, it's not clear. They sort of pose over her threateningly, touch each other and stare intensely while scary music plays in the background.

According to the ASA, "the complainant challenged whether the ad was offensive, because she believed it was disturbing and misogynistic."

The verdict, handed down today? The "disturbing" part can be accounted for by the film's inspiration, classic 1950s Hammer horror films. And the misogyny? Agent Provocateur "tried to communicate with a sense of humour and did not condone violence" nor offense to women in any way, writes the ASA.

Check out the (NSFW) ad below and let us know your thoughts. Funny? Scary? Offensive? Just plain creepy?

Quick Poll

Should Agent Provocateur's "Fleurs du Mal" ad have been banned?

YES! The treatment of women depicted here is unacceptable.

NAH. It's dramatic and not meant to be taken seriously.

VOTE

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Comments

[EArizona]

12:26 AM on 03/09/2012

Stupid video. Goofy.

[NoSillyName]

09:28 PM on 03/08/2012

LOL. Pretty funny.

[LeftRight]

04:50 PM on 03/08/2012

Interesting... Not sure that's likely to make me buy their products....

[Lozange]

09:49 AM on 03/08/2012

Scariest thing is that German gym mistress hairstyle!

[Joey Flasch]

02:04 AM on 03/08/2012

since the tv stations insist on interrupting the movie it might as well as be entertaining and eye appeal

[Daniella Lucia]

11:42 PM on 03/07/2012

Lets face it people its not a commercial for woman to buy their attire, its for the womans husbands who will never see their wife look that trampy.

[seattleite4]

10:45 PM on 03/07/2012

Thought it was an ad for a new "Centipede" movie. Yikes.

[kegworker13]

08:19 PM on 03/07/2012

commence one-handed typing...

[Thing 2]

07:10 PM on 03/07/2012

Well it scared me. I don't understand how the depiction of a home invasion is supposed to make women want to buy these pieces. All I can say is I hope this airs late at night when kids are asleep.

[LeftRight]

04:52 PM on 03/08/2012

Guarantee it will air late at night.... And it's DEFINITELY aimed at the husbands, not the wives...

[EArizona]

12:28 AM on 03/09/2012

And their mistresses.

[Prousa]

06:08 PM on 03/07/2012

Well. brb.....

[hkidher1]

06:06 PM on 03/07/2012

Its' strange how something that would have been considered pornographic, not to many years ago, is now considered acceptable.

[Gumby]

04:31 PM on 03/07/2012

Well...that was interesting! Not sure what it is they were selling to whom but...interesting. This is the ad that was NOT banned by the Brits, right?

Just watched the Jordan Scott Agent Provacateur ads...no more work for me today...gotta get home...quick.

[RedRat]

04:09 PM on 03/07/2012

basically it is nothing more than the type of advertising that appears in print, such as Vogue and others, but animated. Same stuff you see in lingerie ads in Women's fashion mags.

[enhancedvibes]

03:59 PM on 03/07/2012

I'm trying to understand how that commercial is supposed to get women to buy their lingerie?!?!? Some of the strappy pieces are hot, but the commercial is more wtf than anything else.

[mamacat]

02:53 PM on 03/07/2012

They have different standards in Britain, do they not?

My first trip to Europe I was very surprised at what they consider acceptable. Nudity is far less regulated over there than it is over here, in the land to which the Puritans fled.