Gedling Borough Council is investigating a life-sized poster on a main road of a naked woman taking a shower.
The image was put up on the side of a bathroom shop on Arnot Hill Road in Arnold, Nottinghamshire and prompted a complaint to the council, which has since reported the poster to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
The owner of the shop, Sam Collins, has defended the poster, arguing that it is no worse than images shared on social media.
"It's just a lady taking a shower," he told the BBC. "There's nothing rude and she's not really baring anything.
"Seeing how stressful life is at the moment, we thought people could laugh and smile about it."
Mr Collins revealed that the council had asked him to remove the poster while the investigation was ongoing.
A spokesperson for the council said it had received a complaint about the board and that its planning team was investigating.
Leader of Gedling Borough Council, Councillor John Clarke said: “Most advertising hoardings require advertising consent from the council, failure to get consent is a criminal offence. When consent is applied for, the council will make assessments of the advert including the visual impact of the advert, any detrimental effect on the area and whether or not it is a public safety issue including creation of distractions to people driving.
"These must all be considered before consent can be given. Unfortunately, the owners of this particular hoarding did not apply for consent with the council and therefore did not receive this important information before they decided to put the advert up. An officer from the council has visited the owner and instructed them to remove it as it does not have the required consent, the owner will be removing the advert as soon as possible.”
A spokesperson for the ASA confirmed to The Independent that it was assessing the poster, and that it would be removed if it was found to have broken rules.
It wouldn’t be the first time an advertisement was criticised for its presentation of women.
In March, an advertisement for Missguided was banned for “objectifying” women.
The ASA ruled that a poster for the online retailer was “overly sexualised” and could not appear again in its current form.
The poster was seen on railway platforms in November 2019 and featured a model wearing sheer tights, high heels and a blazer with nothing underneath.
In response, Missguided argued that while the poster did feature an image of a young woman “baring some degree of skin” that this was “in keeping with industry norms and similar ads in the fast-fashion industry”.
