Billboards advertising a woman’s explicit OnlyFans account have left locals worried and sparked complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
The adverts, which depict OnlyFans model Rose Watson posing in lingerie as a promotion for her page on the adult content subscription site, were put up across Harrow and Edgware (north-west London) and Lambeth (south-west London).
The racy adverts have sparked over eight complaints to the ASA – which has confirmed it is reviewing them. The complaints have been made over worries that the content was inappropriate for children, with one local pointing out the billboards’ proximity to schools.
“I’ve got no issues with people following a career if it’s legal, but I think advertising issues like what’s on the poster behind me when you’re close to local schools” Harrow resident Alex Mitchell told the BBC.
“You’ve got a primary school up the end of this road, you’ve got a secondary school there – young people are impressionable, and it’s completely out of order.”
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One concerned member of the public said the views on the OnlyFans advertisement, one of which has been graffitied with text that reads ‘Keep P&rn Off Our Streets’, were “very suggestive”.
“it’s very distracting, I would say, for other drivers going around and pedestrians. I wouldn’t want it here because it’s not relevant to this kind of area, to any area.”
However, not everyone viewed the ads negatively. One local said others were “overreacting”:
“To be honest, I would walk past it and not even notice it, and also I’ve seen women in bikinis and stuff before so I wouldn’t really take much notice.”
The ASA said it was reviewing the complaints to determine whether there are grounds for an investigation and emphasised it is not currently investigating the advertisements.
Despite complaints, a spokesperson for billboard company, Amplify, hosting the OnlyFans adverts told the BBC it follows “strict ASA rules” and the company had “stuck to the advertising guidelines”.
“The contents of the campaign are those of the advertiser, not of Amplify. We believe the adverts being displayed are well within the ASA rules” they added.
Model Watson, who paid for the four adverts – two in London and two in New York – said she wanted to dismantle the “shame and stigma” approach to OnlyFans content and that the content was “less racy than ads you see for lingerie”.
“I would say it’s no more adult than an ad for alcohol and, actually, less racy even than ads you see for lingerie within big shopping centres”, Ms Watson said.
“It’s kind of an adult thing to do, to join the dots between the logo and the image.”
A spokesperson for OnlyFans has told MB company was “not involved in the placement of this advertisement”
