One of the adverts for the clothing chain, showed a young woman climbing a ladder and lifting her top to flash at a security camera. In the other, the model was seen to be taking a photograph down the front of her bikini bottoms, while a lion is prowling in the background.

Both posters use large format printing to carry the cryptic caption ‘Smart May Have The Brains, But Stupid Has The Balls. Be Stupid, Diesel.’

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said they had already received 33 complaints about the ads and that the posters were likely to cause ’serious offence’ to adults.

The two adverts, from the same campaign, have already featured in Grazia and Dazed and Confused magazine. They escaped the ban due to the fact they were unlikely to be seen by children and because both publications included material covering sexual themes.

The Italian fashion brand defended their campaign and were cited in The Telegraph as saying the posters ‘portrayed a very strong and unexpected image of femininity’. They added that the image with the security camera ‘tackled society’s preoccupation with 24/7 camera surveillance.’

However, the watchdog disagreed, stating the images were unsuitable to appear as posters because they could lead to copycat behaviour and breach rules covering responsible advertising and decency.

The ASA told The Daily Mail: “We considered that the image portrayed socially challenging actions that might be attractive to younger consumers who would be interested in the youthful and edgy fashion range and might encourage behaviour that was anti-social or irresponsible.”

The ruling by the ASA means the adverts are banned from appearing in poster form again.

The campaign called Face Equality by the Changing Faces charity, aims to tackle prejudices against people with disfigurements.

As part of the campaign, 200 posters will be displayed on Cardiff buses for two weeks. The posters will feature photographs of children with different types of disfigurement and through the use of large format printing, the public are challenged “not to judge them based on their facial appearance.”

The campaign is being backed by Falklands War veteran, Simon Weston. Mr Weston is a former Welsh Guardsman who received serious burns during a bombing attack on the Sir Galahad, during the conflict in 1982.

He believes that society’s obsession with beauty makes it difficult to raise awareness of issues such as facial disfigurement and said that most people are unaware that nearly one million people in the UK had serious facial disfigurement.

“What it’s about and what I’m supporting is to say: ‘Don’t judge people on what they look like,’” he said.

Mr Weston, was awarded an OBE in the 1992 Queen’s Birthday list for his charity work, he said images of perfection in modern society formed part of the problem.

“We base out stereotypes on beauty, magazines and footballers wives. It’s rare to see hugely overweight or plain or ordinary faces on television. We see them on soaps like Coronation Street but it’s hardly the norm.”

He said the campaign was about encouraging people to give those with disfigurements “a fair crack of the whip.”

The poster, which uses large format printing plays on the famous “Keep calm and carry on” wartime poster, which called for British resolve at the beginning of World War II.

The campaign has been launched to coincide with George Osborne’s cut-laden emergency budget and the poster features the words “Keep calm and carry one” in white against the Nectar’s brand colour of purple.

The print campaign will run in nine press titles including The Sun, Daily Mirror, Metro, The Times and The Telegraph, featuring a picture of the loyalty card at the top of the ad.

The original poster it is based on was produced by the Ministry of Information in 1939. The poster, which ran with a bright red background and sovereign crown was produced to create a ‘keep your chin up’ attitude, if the war took a turn for the worse.

It is hoped Nectar’s campaign will portray the loyalty card as an imperative tool for consumers that want to tighten their belt, but also receive good deals.

Nectar’s loyalty card scheme has partners which include Sainsbury’s, Homebase, BP, EDF Energy, the AA, and Expedia.co.uk. Customers can also collect points online at 450 retailers including Amazon and eBay.

The campaign breaks in this afternoon’s (Tuesday’s) edition of the London Evening Standard.

The original poster was never used despite two-and-a-half million copies being printed, the designer of the innovative poster is unknown.

The Reebok advertising campaign was banned after the City Council decided it was “too racy” for the city, according to the Herald. The adverts feature a woman with bare legs wearing their new EasyTone running shoes. The slogan “Better Legs And Bum With Every Step” would have been emblazoned on taxis across the city, but the licensing committee has outlawed it.

This comes despite the plethora of billboard advertising displayed in New York, Boston, Berlin, Barcelona and Madrid.

When a PR director questioned why this advert was facing such strong opposition, despite taxis advertising lap-dancing bars or gym adverts that contain the word ‘bum’, he was thrown out.

According to STV, Councillor Gilbert Davidson, who chaired the licensing and regulatory committee meeting, said: “The committee considers each advert on its own merits and, if necessary, takes a democratic vote on whether it should be approved. On this occasion, the majority view was that some of the text – and also the image, which showed a pair of bare legs from just below the backside – were not appropriate.”

The event gathers together professionals in the signs, vinyl banners and poster printing trade with industry suppliers and corporate clients. Some companies have been planning their exhibitions at IPEX for years, with Print Week reporting that nearly 70,000 people are expected to attend the conference and expo – a record in the event’s history.

Organisers have been concerned about how people planning to attend from overseas would find their way to the expo in the face of ongoing airspace disruptions. They have welcomed the news that the British Airways strike is to be called off and that the volcanic ash cloud has moved away for now, with event director Trevor Crawford saying the developments were a “massive relief.”

Over 1,000 companies will attend and exhibit their goods and services at the expo. As well as creation and design businesses who specialise in creating signage, there will also be post press and finishing companies, used equipment vendors and providers of digital solutions.

Trevor Crawford says that so far, the event has shown the resilience of the industry throughout the economic recession.

“The fact that just about every manufacturer is here at the show…underlines just how resilient this industry is, even in the current economic difficulties,” he told Print Week. “In every hall I walk through, I’m hearing exhibitors talking extremely positively about seminar and meeting programmes.”

Major large format printing companies like Discount Displays are investing in green technology that must meet rigorous standards of high quality printing as well as being kind to the planet.  Discount Displays recently purchased the HP Designjet L65500 Printer, featuring HP Latex Inks and HP Wide Scan Printing Technology that offer large format printing companies a versatile print system that can produce a wide range of applications – from point-of- purchase displays, posters, window graphics and exhibition graphics to vehicle graphics and fleet marking, and a variety of exterior and interior event signage.

The HP technology provides:

• Durable, odourless prints
• Sharp, vivid image quality
• Application versatility
• High productivity

This technology enables Discount Displays to increase print capacity and better serve customers while reducing the impact of their printing on the environment.

Lasting visual – not environmental – impact.

Outdoor prints produced with HP Latex Inks achieve display permanence up to three years unlaminated and up to five years laminated and are scratch, smudge and water resistant on a range of media. Indoor prints produced with HP Latex Inks achieve display permanence in-window up to five years unlaminated and up to 10 years laminated.

Two specially treated HP media, HP Tyvek Banner and HP High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) Reinforced Banner, provide both image quality and durability when printing with HP Designjet L65500 Printer using HP Latex Inks. This proprietary new HP media surface-treatment technology produces a wide colour gamut and makes it possible to achieve both durability and sharp, vivid image quality on materials that don’t typically print well with solvent inks.

The variety of HP media includes both outdoor and indoor substrates, and ranges from low-cost, uncoated media to a selection of banner, self-adhesive, film, fabric, paper, mesh and specialty options.

The large format printing experts at Discount Displays can show you can obtain top quality printing while still being kind to the environment.  For more information, visit our website or call us on 0844 800 1020.

We do all of our large format printing in-house, delivering high quality graphics at a reasonable price and with quick delivery throughout the UK.   We also have graphic artists on staff who can assist you with the design and layout of your large format printed products, or we can work from art files that you provide.

During the holidays, we get lots of requests for reproducing photos or artwork onto canvas, which makes a great gift.  Each of our canvas prints is stretched over a wooden frame to provide a contemporary presentation, and look fabulous anywhere – home, office, retail shop or restaurant.

Special sales promotion graphics

Our floor graphics will floor you with their versatility and the impact they deliver to your in-store sales.  Use them to call attention to new product displays or to highlight special promotions.  These large format floor graphics feature slip-and-scuff resistant laminate and a removable adhesive that make them easy to take up after your promotion has run its course.

Special effects

Discount Displays specializes in special effects graphics, like one-way contra vision that allows people to see out but prevents them from looking in.

We love the professional look of our etched glass vinyl laminates, which looks just like expensive sandblasted etched glass at a fraction of the expense.

Our self-cling window stickers are extremely easy to fit and remove, and are an economical way to customize any window with a professional presentation.

To get cost-effective large format graphics that work for your business, visit our website or call us on 0844 800 1020 today.