BUMS GONE TO ICELAND
Racy phone advert packed with NAKED actors sets pulses racing on Icelandic TV
A MOBILE phone company has launched an advert featuring stark naked people broadcast during prime time on national TV in Iceland.
The unpixelated, full-frontal images feature actors running, cycling, swimming, shopping and even conducting a business meeting - all while totally starkers.
Telecoms company Nova claims its naturist-inspired ad is a vehicle for body positivity and improving mental wellbeing.
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Urging social media-weary folk to “leave your phone at home”, Nova said it is “celebrating the body”.
The ad starts by following a young woman with pixie-cut blond hair through a tunnel to a sports court.
As she stops, she slowly peels off her beige woollen jumper to reveal her naked torso underneath, before stretching out her arms and her neck.
The camera then skips to a series of clips of regular people undressing – from a bespectacled man with ginger hair and a paunch removing his boxers and heading to the swimming pool, to an elderly woman unclipping her bra.
The short video also features naked actors in the supermarket, running a business meeting with nude colleagues sitting around a boardroom table, and diving into a swimming pool.
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"With the campaign, we are celebrating the body," said Nova.
“We are all beautiful and we want people to feel good, exactly as they are. On social media, we are blasted with unrealistic beauty and body standards - not the reality.”
As the video continues, the camera returns to the blond woman from the opening shot, now smiling broadly as she dances under colourful lights.
Enjoying the fresh air on their naked skin, two women jog in the park under autumn leaves, and a cyclist rides her bike through a picturesque green space – all naked except for a smartwatch.
The ad aims to promote Nova’s eSIM smartwatch product, and the company reckons ditching our gadgets – apart from its smartwatch – is a “great way to spend less time in front of the screen”.
We need to talk about self-love
Nova
“We really need to talk about self-love and respect for our body,” adds the telecoms company.
“We come in all possible shapes and sizes. Here is our new ad in all its glory. Nothing to hide. Nothing to be ashamed of. Just the way we are.”
The ad first aired before a televised national men’s handball game between Iceland and Lithuania last night and has already sparked a mixed response on social media.
Some viewers support the sentiment of the spot, while others have pointed out it would fall foul of public decency rules in many cities and countries around the world.
Writing on Twitter, author Nick Mayhew-Smith said he suspected the ad could spark controversy.
“I'd love to know why people would object to this, but I suspect there might well be a fuss,” he wrote.
“One thing I find difficult to gauge as a naturist is mainstream reactions to mundane nudity such as this.”
“That is the happiest commercial I’ve ever seen,” wrote Hansdoor on Reddit.
“I don't find anything abnormal in this ad. This is how life should be. Nudity - public or private - should be regarded as matter-of-fact by all. It shouldn't even turn heads,” added MarinTaranu.
But another Reddit user questioned the decision-making behind the ad’s broadcast.
“How was this even allowed to air,” asked one user.
While another wrote: “Imagine seeing that in America. People would have a fit so bad they wouldn't know where to start.”
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One Twitter user asked: “Did my boyfriend just send me a Icelandic nudist phone ad. I didn’t want to see that.”
Another pointed out: “There’s no way this would be shown on UK TV.”
Nova worked with ad agency Brandenburg to create the TV spot, and the creatives behind the video thanked the telecoms company for being "daring".
"There are few customers who dare," said the ad agency.
"We are all kinds of things and maybe we don't need any filters."
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