Chanel ad withdrawn for flouting Hong Kong anti-smoking laws

Jun 12, 2009, 6:16 GMT

   Hong Kong - A poster advertising the new film Coco Before Chanel has been withdrawn from newspapers in Hong Kong after complaints that it contravenes anti-smoking laws, news reports said Friday.

   The poster shows actress Audrey Tautou starring the young Coco Chanel wearing silk pyjamas and posing provocatively with a cigarette in her hand.

   However, in versions printed in the South China Morning Post Friday it appeared with the cigarette air-brushed out, the actress' hand appearing to dangle in a strange position.

   Lark Film Distribution, the company responsible for the promotion of the film, said it had decided to remove the image from newspaper advertisements and replace it with the air-brushed version after the possible contravention was pointed out to them.

   A spokeswoman said they were also seeking legal advice on the ad before making a decision on posters in train stations and cinemas.

   Hong Kong laws say images showing smoking are tobacco advertisements, which are banned in print, public places and on the internet.

   Annelise Connell of the group Clear the Air, said the poster clearly breached anti-smoking legislation.

   A report in Friday's South China Morning Post said the Department of Health was now looking into the case.

   In April, Metrobus in Paris banned the poster to avoid being prosecuted under anti-smoking laws in France which prohibit the direct or indirect advertising of cigarettes.

   In the film Tautou plays Coco Chanel, the style icon responsible for the 'little black dress.'

   In real life Chanel was often pictured with a cigarette and smoked several packets of cigarettes a day up until her death at the age of 71 in 1987.