Authority rules non-explicit sex toys OK in displays

It is OK for adult shops to display sex toys in the window, providing the display is not ‘‘sexually explicit’’.

A ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) did not, however, say whether it considered boxed bondage sets with photographic covers showing scantily clad women tied up for pleasure to be sexually explicit.

This is because the owner of the DVX adult store in Auckland removed the items, meaning the ASA considered the complaint from mother Lynne Low to have been ‘‘settled’’. Low also petitioned Parliament for change, believing community standards existed against which shop window displays should be judged.

The complainant was concerned it was inappropriate for minors to see sex toys and images of bondage in a shop window, the ASA said. The advertiser had removed the products.

‘‘The Complaints Board did not uphold a complaint about the display of sex toys ... because the presentation of the toys in the shop window display was not sexually explicit and was not likely to cause serious or widespread offence.’’

Low protested outside the shop with her children when the store owner initially refused to remove the items, citing ‘‘free speech’’. She said in January: ‘‘I go through efforts to put safety filters on my children’s devices ... and I can’t stop them from looking at this stuff on the street corner.’’

The ASA is funded by companies and industry associations, including the Newspaper Publishers Association, of which Stuff is a member.