A sex toy company's raunchy Prince Harry-themed advert has been banned.
Lovehoney's digital billboard advert debuted on February 8 at Clapham Junction station in south-west London and featured a joke about the Duke of Sussex's memoir.
The bombshell book Spare had just been released weeks before and included claims about his time in the Royal Family.
It also detailed some of Harry's own sexual encounters, including losing his virginity in a field behind a pub.
The advert featured an image of a ball gag and large text that stated: "Silence is golden, Harry."
Smaller text underneath added: “Spare ball gags available at www.lovehoney.co.uk”.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said an unnamed complainant challenged the ad as "offensive" and "inappropriate for a display in an untargeted medium where children could see it".
According to an ASA ruling report, the toy firm refuted these claims, arguing there was "no explicit sexual reference" and children would "not recognise it as a sex toy".
The report explains: "The ad was launched in response to the release of Prince Harry ’s memoir.
"They pointed to the fact the memoir contained a number of indiscreet revelations, some of which had a sexual reference.
"At the time the ad was published, Lovehoney issued a press release that explained their motivation for the ad and how it should have been understood, which included that it was meant to be humorous and that not all family stories needed to be shared with the public."
It adds that Lovehoney also did not consider the ad "inappropriate", despite youngsters likely coming into contact with it.
The report said: "A ball gag had no explicit sexual reference and its way of use was not readily identifiable without further knowledge.
"Children would not recognise it as a sex toy, and there was nothing in the ad to change that.
"Neither the picture nor the text spoke to children and therefore made it uninteresting to them. They would, therefore, either ignore it or, at most, wonder what it was about, yet, without seeing any inappropriate hints.
"Lovehoney therefore believed that this was insufficient to exceed the threshold of inappropriateness."
ASA said London Lites, which owns the digital billboard acknowledged the complaint but "did not provide a substantive response".
The standards agency did not uphold the first issue, surmising that some people might find the image and implications "distasteful" but said the ad was "unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence".
"On this point, we investigated the ad under CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 4.1 (Harm and offence), but did not find it in breach," the report said.
However, it did uphold the second issue, considering the ad "inappropriate for outdoor display where it could be seen by children".
"We concluded that the ad had been irresponsibly targeted. On this point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.3 (Social responsibility)."
As a result, the ASA has ordered the advert "must not appear again in the form complained of".
"We told Lovehoney Group Ltd to ensure that their ads were appropriately targeted," it added.
Johannes Plettenberg, Lovehoney CEO, said: “We recognise the ASA ruling and laud the important and necessary job it does in ensuring that brands’ advertising is safe and responsible for the consumer and general public.
"We welcome its ruling that the 'Silence is Golden' billboard ad was not in breach of causing harm or offence – the ad was intended as a tongue-in-cheek response to Prince Harry’s memoir, in particular to the extracts that contained indiscreet and inappropriate revelations that could be classified as ‘TMI’.
“However, the ruling that the ad was ‘inappropriate’ is yet another example of the complete censorship of anything remotely sex positive – whether it be Search Engines restricting access to sexual wellness retailers or social media removing images of female nipples while allowing male nipples, the story is always the same.
"Even though a ball gag in isolation has no explicit sexual reference and would not be immediately identifiable by those that don’t know what it is, it was still deemed too sexual for public viewing for 10 seconds at a time.
"At the same time, you don’t need to walk very far to find advertisements for alcohol, gambling, and other such exclusively over-18 products that don’t experience the same levels of censorship.
"Lovehoney exists to help people discover their sexual happiness ... and we will never stop banging the drum of sex positivity."
A Lovehoney spokesperson confirmed to the Mirror that Prince Harry's representatives have not had any contact with the company.
