When it comes to sexy, titillating ADS promoting clothing to young adults - particularly teens - Abercrombie & Fitch has been the frontrunner.
But, a dash of fashionable cloth and a splash of tender flesh this past week, catapulted the retailer into the glare of the National spotlight when shoppers at a mall complained of images that were too provocative - on the edge of soft porn - some alleged.
The sizzling photographs - a display of three scantily-clad men with buttocks showing and one featuring a nubile young lady with a breast partly exposed - triggered the filing of a complaint with the local men in blue.
Initially, Abercrombie & Fitch was given a stern warning and ordered to remove the alleged "offending images" from a prominent display area in a store window, or face an obscenity charge.
The clothier was defiant, though, lamented to anyone within earshot.
"The images show less skin than most people would see on any summer day at the beach."
Well, in the cold light of day in a busy shopping mall - out of context - the overt erotic images may have been a bit too scandalous for the regular Joe to digest with wee tots in tow.
In the battle that ensued, the police lost out, and were forced to turn a - um - cheek.
The long and short of it?
Prosecutors said that they were unable to bring a case.
Deputy City Attorney Mark Stiles explained why.
"While the images might be technically in breach of the nudity section of the city's local code, they were in line with the other standards upheld by the law."
To successfully prosecute on the obscenity charge, the images would have to appeal to "prurient interests, lack any redeeming artistic merit, and be offensive to prevailing community standards".
In retrospect, it appears that Abercrombie's assessment of the reaction of city officials was on target.
"This was an incredible overreaction by city officials that would be comical except for its potentially serious legal implications," their press statement pronounced.
Mr. Stiles argued that the police acted in good faith and hinted that the execs at the Abercrombie & Fitch outlets may have courted controversy for publicity purposes.
No, you don't say!
"Abercrombie and Fitch", lawmakers contended, hatched these ads for one reason.
"It was all a part of a marketing plans to get as close to the line as they could get and then make it a judgment call for the officer on the street. I think that's what's happened here," he said.
Wouldn't the officers' time be better spent dealing with real crime in the city's mean streets than wasting costly resource on such trivial pursuits?
Just asking!
