Advertising in Finland: Lindex

A couple of weeks ago while standing at the stop to catch the tram I received quite a jolt when I looked over to my right. Lindex, a women's clothing store with shops in at least Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Germany had begun a new ad campaign. While most of the ad is (naturally) in Finnish, the tag line is in English, and the picture is universal. While I am not offended by the ads as is the general concern, I have to say it surprised me if for no other reason than that after dragging myself out of bed and drearily walking the 25 meters to the stop I didn't exactly expect to glance up from my toes and see this ad glancing back at me. In the US this would never fly. Various special interest groups would keep the advertisement from ever seeing the light of day. But, in a manner confusing to me, 100 (the daily free public paper) published an article highlighting the fact that there was no controversy (so why is it news?). It seems that in Sweden the ads were removed from certain locations, however the President of Lindex-Finland was quoted in the ad as saying there isn't anything offensive about the ad (to women or otherwise) and the transport authority says they have received no complaints over them.

I myself was much to chicken to take a picture for fear of getting caught and thought of as a pervert.... but here's the ad, pic by Kimmo W., borrowed from Phil's site. Here's a little more from Phil (x2).