While some might argue that Pamela Anderson isn’t a fraction of the bombshell she was in the ’90s, the buxom former Playboy pin-up is still too hot for Australian TV. A commercial featuring the aging blonde has been banned from Aussie’s airwaves after crossing the line of decency and allegedly objectifying women.
The 30-second spot is for a Perth-based company Crazy Domains, Australia’s #1 company for domain names and web hosting. It features the former Baywatch star in a gold bikini rubbing against another scantily clad woman while being sprayed with a white liquid.
The controversial ad has prompted a firestorm of scathing remarks from viewers, with some remarking that “It is all about sex, got nothing to do with domains, unless it’s to start a porn site” and other branding it “overtly sexist and exploitative.” According to Australia’s Advertising Standards Bureau, hundreds of complaints have been lodged against Pamela’s Crazy Domains commercial 40 submissions, saying it went too far in objectifying women.
“It’s meant to be a cheeky, over-the-top depiction, but in the bureau’s view it did cross the line,” says Bureau president Fiona Jolly said.
The managing director of Crazy Domains, Gavin Collins has blamed “feminist bloggers” for stirring up the controversy. The company is fighting the ban, arguing that the ad is no worse than some music videos that are frequently broadcast in front of impressionable children: “We are certainly not going to take this lying down,” Collins fumed to reporters last week. “We feel we need to make a stand on behalf of all the other Aussie businesses. The average person who has seen this ad would realise that the whole thing is light-hearted and so over the top that it couldn’t be taken seriously, it’s purely tongue in cheek,” he continued.
“Have you seen Video Hits on a Saturday morning,” Collins added. “There are much more graphic and sexually explicit images on that show every week and there are tens of thousands of young children watching that. I think parents should be more concerned with what their children are looking at during an early morning time slot….”