A bus advertisement from Sinful has caused a stir (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/busplakat-med-vibratorer-og-orgasmegaranti-vakte-forargelse-og-saa-blev-den-fjernet). The ad shows three vibrators and the text "100% orgasm guarantee."
After a debate over the summer, the ad has now been replaced by a new Sinful advertisement that, according to those responsible for the bus ads, is "a little less provocative."
But the sex toy-selling company is far from the first to have an advertisement that has caused a stir over the years.
Here are five other examples:
[Image: A woman relaxing in a sun lounger is shown in the ad, which advertises that you can help on the island of Lesbos – without lifting a finger.]
"Bad publicity is better than no publicity."
That's a well-known mantra from Simon Spies, who founded Spies Rejser.
Publicity was indeed what Spies got when the travel company placed a newspaper ad in 2016 with the text "relief work – give a hand without lifting a finger."
In the ad, Danes were urged to support the local Greek population by taking a holiday on the island of Lesbos – one of the places where the most boat refugees and immigrants from Africa and the Middle East arrived.
Under a picture of a woman relaxing in a sun lounger on the beach stood:
"If you want to help refugees on Lesbos, you're too late. The locals have taken care of that. But now their reserves are depleted. You can help the Greeks by coming down and having the best holiday you've ever known. It's still exceptionally beautiful and lovely here – and you travel with an extra clear conscience."
Read also: Spies defies shitstorm over 'relief ad': The Greeks are actually suffering on Lesbos (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/spies-trods-shitstorm-over-noedhjaelpsreklame-graekerne-lider-faktisk-paa-lesbos)
The ad sparked (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/spies-trods-shitstorm-over-noedhjaelpsreklame-graekerne-lider-faktisk-paa-lesbos) a flood of critical voices in the media and on Spies' Facebook page.
Among others, Secretary General of the Red Cross, Anders Ladekarl, came out saying it was a disrespectful campaign.
"I don't think Spies will be my next travel operator," his post read.
From Spies themselves, it was said that this was apparently what was needed to focus attention on the situation on the island, about which the travel company had previously issued press releases.
"We found out that we had to do something to open people's eyes. Open their eyes to what the situation is on Lesbos, how they are suffering there now," said Torben Andersen, then Head of Communications at Spies.
[Image: This is what an advertisement has looked like in one form or another on the sides of buses in Copenhagen and elsewhere since 2007. (Photo: © Sabrina Uldbæk Skjødt Web og Mobil)]
For many years now – in fact since 2007 – it has been possible to see ads for the private hospital Nygart on buses across the country.
With the text "new breasts?" and pictures of breasts, silicone breast implants are advertised.
This has sparked debate over the years. The criticism has been that the ad can damage young women's self-esteem.
In 2017, the activist group 'The market damn well shouldn't decide what our bodies should look like!' put up 1,000 posters in Copenhagen to focus on unnatural body ideals. The criticism was particularly directed at the private hospital Nygart.
"We think that Nygart promotes a specific beauty and body ideal that we are convinced makes some people feel wrong," the group said at the time (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/aktivister-har-faaet-nok-vil-fjerne-bryster-fra-busser).
In 2023, the debate flared up again. At the beginning of the year, Midttrafik banned bus ads with sexual content.
But after two months without the breast ads, they were back on the buses with the argument that it was not forbidden to advertise for things like plastic surgery.
"It creates some debate, and we actually think it's a wonderful debate we're having about the body. We stand for the right to decide for yourself what you want to do with your body," said Maria Teglkamp, marketing manager for AK Nygart, to TV 2 at the time (https://nyheder.tv2.dk/lokalt/2023-03-27-bryster-tilbage-paa-busserne-i-aarhus).
Read also: Private hospital: Controversial ad breasts are actually real (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/privathospital-omdiskuterede-reklamebryster-er-faktisk-aegte)
[Image: The airline ended up removing the original video and posting a new – and somewhat shorter – version. (Photo: © Adrian Dennis/AFP/Ritzau Scanpix)]
In 2020, the airline SAS learned the hard way that it can be problematic to touch what we Danes perceive as Danish – or rather, Scandinavian.
Because in a commercial with the title 'SAS - what is truly scandinavian', it was said that there was nothing Scandinavian about several proud traditions in Scandinavia itself.
Such as rye bread, licorice, wind turbines, the cycling tradition. Because all the things originally came from abroad, it was stated.
This was not well received, and the video was met with strong criticism. So much so that the company chose to remove the video, post it again, and later in the day post a re-edited version of the video (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/penge/sas-klipper-omstridt-reklamefilm-om).
From SAS, it was said at the time that the video was about being inspired by traveling out into the world, and that you bring back what you like.
Read also: Fact check: Is it possible that smørrebrød, maternity leave, and licorice are not Danish at all? (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/faktatjek-kan-det-passe-smoerrebroed-barsel-og-lakrids-slet-ikke-er-dansk)
[Image: The ad was reported to the Alcohol Advertising Complaints Board by DSU for breaking rules on alcohol marketing in Denmark. (Photo: © Allan Lundgren/Nf-Nf/Ritzau Scanpix)]
Several times, Cult, which makes both energy drinks and alcoholic beverages, has gotten into trouble for its ads.
In 2009, for example, an ad for Cult Shaker showed a man holding a woman's head firmly down towards his crotch.
The slogan read: "Party now, apologize later".
This led Denmark's Social Democratic Youth to report them (https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/dsu-cult-reklamer-opfordrer-til-voldtaegt) to the Alcohol Advertising Complaints Board for exceeding a number of the rules governing alcohol marketing in Denmark.
"It's simply too much when Cult keeps making these completely distasteful ads, and now they have crossed the line," stated Peter Hummelgaard, who was then the national chairman of DSU.
The Alcohol Advertising Complaints Board ended up criticizing (https://alkoholreklamenaevnet.dk/afgoerelser/101023-cult-shaker/) the marketing.
Two years later, a commercial from 2009 was reported (https://nyheder.tv2.dk/2011-11-04-cult-anmeldes-for-voldelig-markedsfoering) by the Consumer Ombudsman for targeting children while using violence as a tool in the marketing.
The video shows a boy robbing a kiosk, groping a girl on the chest, and assaulting several people – all after drinking Cult's energy drink. At the end, it says: "Cult Raw Energy - Now with double caffeine - Not for kids."
Cult did not wish to comment on the pending case with the Consumer Ombudsman at the time. In 2015, Cult was fined by the district court in Aarhus (https://forbrugerombudsmanden.dk/find-sager/sager/markedsfoeringsloven/sager-efter-markedsfoeringsloven/boern-og-unge/producent-af-laeskedrik-idoemt-boede-paa-100000-kr-for-at-anvende-vold-i-reklamer-rettet-mod-boer) 100,000 Danish kroner for using violence in ads targeting children.
A few years ago, the then-director of the advertising agency behind it stated that he would not run the old campaign today.
[Image: A sharp orange background. Janni Ree in the picture. And then the slogan: "There's so much women don't understand."]
Back in the 2000s, Janni Ree became known as "Oddset-Janni" when the then 30-year-old TV personality appeared in a series of ads for Danske Spil's campaign.
In the video ads, in which Janni Ree did not appear, women could be seen, for example, standing in the kitchen, confused about what was being said during the football match the man was watching. For example, football terms like "going off with an injury" or "making a save."
The ad faced backlash for portraying women in a degrading manner.
Janni Ree has previously told alt.dk (https://www.alt.dk/artikler/janni-ree-om-oddset-reklamerne-og-at-vaere-mor/1771438) that she herself thought it was a humorous campaign. But also that her son was teased because his mother was a sex symbol.
Read also: Your husband will leave you if you can't bake – and other ads from the 1960s that probably would have been made a *little* differently today (https://www.dr.dk/det-bedste-fra-dr/carmen-curlers/din-mand-skrider-hvis-du-ikke-kan-bage-og-andre-reklamer-fra)
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