3:44pm Friday 9th January 2009
By John Harrison
A high street shop has defended a controversial advertising campaign, saying the idea behind the raunchy sales promotion was to "have fun without offending".
A red-faced father contacted the Watford Observer after he saw the offending advert in the window of adult retailers Ann Summers, in the upper mall of the The Harlequin Centre.
In the advert, the "L" in the word “sale” takes on an apparently phallic shape as it approaches a pair of red lips.
The image is underneath the slogan "get excited".
A spokesperson for the company, however, said the store has yet to receive a complaint about the promotion.
A statement read: "Ann Summers carefully considers each and every promotional tool.
"Our current Ann Summers "sale" point of sale material has been used for the past seven seasons (equivalent to three and half years) and we have spoken to our retail team who are unaware of any prior complaints in the Watford area.
"We aim to have fun in what we do without offending. However, we do take our role seriously and apologise if we have offended the customer in question and what he has interpreted from our window."
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