The UK’s advertising regulator ruled this week that a poster promoting Demi Lovato’s 2022 album Holy Fvck breached its code.
In a decision published Wednesday, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) concluded that the poster violated its rules for “responsible advertising” and caused “harm and offence.”
The posters, which were displayed for only four days at six sites in London, featured the album cover image of Lovato “bound up in a bondage-style outfit whilst lying on a mattress shaped like a crucifix, in a position with her legs bound to one side which was reminiscent of Christ on the cross.” The ASA said that “together with the reference to ‘holy fvck,’ which in that context was likely to be viewed as linking sexuality to the sacred symbol of the crucifix and the crucifixion,” means the posters were “likely to cause serious offence to Christians.”
The regulator upheld complaints that the posters were offensive and should not have been placed where children could see them.
“The ad must not appear again in the form complained of unless it was suitably targeted,” read the ASA ruling, adding it was “likely to result in serious and widespread offence and had been targeted irresponsibly.”
Universal Music Operations Ltd. had told the ASA it was assured by its advertising agency that the poster was acceptable.