Two lingerie adverts will be taken down amid complaints they are too distracting for Italian motorists, it has been reported.
30-year-old model Belén Rodriguez appears to take off her underwear in one advert and posing seductively on a bed in another.
Local residents complained the multi-storey tall billboards in Milan are a “serious danger for vehicular circulation”, according to a report in the Daily Mail – not to mention the biological circulation problems they might be causing elsewhere.
A local residents committee referred the complaints to Italian police. Local authorities subsequently agreed to tear down both adverts.
Ms Rodriguez, who is also a presenter, defended the billboards, claiming they are “sensual, but elegant” and that they would not cause crashes.
A number of adverts have been deemed unsafe for drivers in the past, including a 1993 H&M campaign in Norway that featured the late Anna Nicole Smith, and a 1993 Wonderbra ‘Hello Boys’ campaign with Eva Herzigova that caused multiple vehicle collisions.
A study by the University of Alberta found billboards with positive words like cash, fame, sex and win caused motorists to dramatically speed up. Billboards with negative words, meanwhile, had the opposite effect and caused motorists to drift out of lane.
“Driver distraction is estimated to be one of the leading causes of motor vehicle accidents,” the study said. “However, little is known about the role of emotional distraction on driving, despite evidence that attention is highly biased toward emotion.”
So there you have it. Eyes on the prize – the prize being the road ahead and not the physical qualities of a fellow human being. Unless you want an expensive garage repair bill.
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