Renault Clio advert banned for having too much Va Va Voom

A risque car advert featuring burlesque dancers has been banned after one complaint that it objectified women.

The YouTube advert for a new Renault Clio shows a salesman taking the car for a test drive with a customer when it turns off into a side street.

The salesman then encourages the driver to press the car's 'Va Va Voom' button.

A Paris backdrop featuring the Eiffel tower drops down on the road in front of the car before a troupe of scantily clad burlesque dancers emerge and start dancing around it.

Dressed in black stockings and red bras, the girls are shown moving suggestively as slow motion close-ups focus on the women.

The ad also portrayed actors playing out typically French scenes.

People sit at a pavement cafe, a flower seller gives a rose to a young couple and even 'Papa and Nicole' from the classic advert enjoy an on-screen reunion.

Upholding a judgment against Renault UK Ltd, the Advertising Standards Agency said that while they appreciate Moulin Rouge style dancers were associated with Paris, they felt the scene had a different tone to the rest of the advert.

The ASA said the ad must not appear again in its current form.

They said: "We were concerned that the ad featured a number of shots of the women's breasts and bottoms, in which their heads were obscured, and which we considered invited viewers to view the women as sexual objects.

"We further considered that the choreography, dress and facial expressions of the dancers were sexually provocative and that the overall impression given was not necessarily that of a parody of a cabaret show such as the Moulin Rouge, particularly as the women were seen to approach the car and gyrate around it, rather than merely performing in front of it.

"We considered that the ad objectified the dancers by portraying them as sexual objects and that it was therefore likely to cause serious or widespread offence."

Renault denied the cabaret-style advert was ‘sexist’ but said it respected the watchdog’s decision and would comply with it by ‘censoring’ the offending scenes.