Shot of the Day: UK Conservatives Try to Ban Lesbian-Leaning Self-Love Ad

A Harvey Nichols ad campaign in the United Kingdom showing women kissing their own reflection prompted religious conservatives to get their knickers in a twist and complain to the national advertising authority.

The three-poster campaign advertised the department store's new beauty section, and featured text reading "Love Thyself," reportsHuffington Post UK.

The images of two female faces nearly locking lips prompted 17 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority, alleging that the images were unsuitable for children since they appeared to involve a same-sex kiss, were sexually explicit, and that the language was offensive on religious grounds. 

In its defense, Harvey Nichols pointed out that the ad did not feature a lesbian kiss, but rather a woman kissing a mirror image of herself, as the text reading "Love thyself" clearly indicates. Also, we're pretty sure the word "thyself" isn't copyrighted by the Bible. 

The ASA sided with the department story and concluded that the campaign was clear and unlikely to be widely misunderstood, also noting that the mere premise of a same-sex kiss would not qualify as offensive or irresponsible advertising. The ASA also concluded that while the language does allude to the Biblical allegory of "Love thy neighbor as thyself," a lack of additional religious imagery or any verbatim usage of Biblical language meant that the ad was not mocking religion.

Sorry, haters. Looks like you'll have to find some other faux-controversy to rile the troops.

Check out the "offending" images right here:

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