Surfwear brand Roxy has sparked a social media backlash with consumers arguing its latest campaign "objectified" women and is "demeaning" to female surfers.
The campaign is an online teaser on YouTube promoting an upcoming surfing contest in France.
It featured an unnamed female surfer and asked viewers to guess who she was by using the hashtag #WhoAmIJustGuess.
The spot, just shy of two minutes long, featured slow-motion close-up shots of the athlete's half-naked body in bed, in the shower and paddling into the water.
Roxy posted the ad to its Facebook page late last month.
While there were a small number of objections to the post, backlash grew after the brand addressed the controversy on July 4.
"All athletes are naturally beautiful, in and out of the water," it stated.
"You certainly don't have to be sexy to be an athlete, & we also believe it's not wrong to be an athlete and to be sexy, if you choose to be.
"We don't judge one to be better than the other & we don't believe in excluding one for the other. Thank you for the passionate thoughts shared on the video, & for expressing how much you respect women in surfing."
The statement provoked a torrent of backlash.
"It shouldn't be focused on a surfer's body or sex at all, it should be about their talent and athleticism and power," one fan wrote.
"I don't mind seeing beautiful images of girls who surf (or guys) but it didn't show ANY SURFING !!!!! That is the demeaning part to women’s surfing," wrote another.
Another added: "It objectifies
her, breaking her down into side-boob and bum shots. It avoids
humanising her by NOT showing her face. This is sending a clear
message about sex and sport and the value of women (soft porny body
parts) according to Roxy. How totally disappointing. You could do
such good things, and you do this?! LAME."
Some consumers stated they
would boycott the brand as a result of the ad. One, who pledged
to do so, described the ad as "excessively stupid and sexist".
A parody of the ad has also appeared on YouTube.
Roxy was not available for comment at the time of writing. This story first appeared on sister website adnews.com.au.