Financial Times turns away ‘inappropriate’ Gay Times ad

The Financial Times (FT) has rejected a pre-booked ad for the Gay Times magazine’s July issue, which carries the strapline “Bend me, shape me, any way you want me” and a suggestive picture of a man with his hand on his stomach.

The ad was due to appear in the FT’s Arts section on June 23. The newspaper says it was rejected on the grounds that it was “inappropriate for the medium”.

But the Gay Times claims the ad was rejected because it would be “offensive to most of its [FT’s] readers.”

A spokeswoman for the FT adds: “We did not reject the ad because it is for Gay Times, but because it would not have been appropriate in the format that it was given to us. We asked the magazine to change the strapline.”

Glenn Littlewood, account director of Gay Times’ advertising agency, Haymarket Advertising, says: “The Guardian, Metro and Time Out are running exactly the same ad.”

Gay Times marketing director Kim Watson adds: “This must be the least offensive ad ever to be censored. To censor it at this late stage is a huge blow to what should have been the grand opening of our campaign.”

The strapline was taken from a Sixties pop song, by the band Amen Corner, which highlighted the fact that pop stars are willing to be manipulated in exchange for fame and fortune.

Gay Times is a monthly paid-for magazine, published by Millivres-Prowler Group.