Beyoncé turns up the Heat a little too much as racy perfume ad is banned from daytime TV

A perfume commercial featuing Beyoncé has been banned from daytime TV amid concerns over its sexual imagery. The commercial, which begins with an image of the singer lying naked in a room, has been deemed ‘too sexually provocative’ to be seen by young children and will not be shown on British TV before 7.30pm. The Advertising Standards Authority investigated the advert – which appeared on ITV and Channel 4 as well as music channels – after it receiving 14 viewer complaints.　

Beyoncé's new perfume ad has been banned from British TV before 7.30pm because it was deemed 'too sexually provocative' to be seen by young children

The commercial begins with an image of the singer lying naked in a room

She begins dancing seductively with the camera showing her chest, back and thighs. The ad closes with Beyoncé walking away from the camera, her footprints melting the floor. She turns and says: ‘Catch the fever.’ A male voiceover then says: ‘Beyoncé Heat. The first fragrance, by Beyoncé.’

Coty UK, which makes the fragrance in partnership with the singer, claimed the ad was stylised in keeping with other ads in the genre, and not overtly graphic or explicitly sexual. At at no point was Beyonce naked, they added. A spokesman said: ‘The ad was intended to reflect the singer Beyonce’s personal "sexy chic" style.’

‘It was aimed at a vast selection of music programmes to target a young adult audience. It would therefore be consistent with the expectations of viewers of those sorts of programmes, they claimed. The watchdog accepted the advert was not obscene or offensive but was unhappy that it had been shown on daytime TV. It said: ‘Several complainants had told us their children had seen the ad broadcast during the middle of the day around family programmes.’

The Advertising Standards Authority investigated following complaints when it was screened on ITV, Channel 4 and music channels

But it added that although the advert ‘was sexually suggestive and might therefore be distasteful to some’, in the context of marketing for perfume it was ‘unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence to most viewers’. ‘Although we considered that the ad was unlikely to be harmful to adults or older children, we considered that Beyonce’s body movements and the camera’s prolonged focus on shots of her dress slipping away created a sexually provocative ad that was unsuitable to be seen by young children.

Beyonce’s move into fragrances, fashion design and a host of commercial tie-ups have made her the second most successful celebrity woman in the U.S. in terms of earning power. Earnings last year have been estimated at $89 million, putting her second only to Oprah Winfrey. Any criticism that she is too sexually provocative is likely to enhance rather than harm her earning potential. Her record label Sony had no comment on behalf of the star