A Tasmanian music festival with a bare-arsed cartoon mascot has had its ads blocked by Facebook for being too 'sexual'.

This is Party in the Paddock's (PITP) original 2018 poster, uncensored:

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Whatsapp PITP uncensored poster.

PITP, to be held from February 8, is now in its sixth year. Promotional material featuring the 'nude dude' mascot and his arse cheeks has appeared on marketing from the beginning.

This is the first time the dude has breached Facebook's ad guidelines.

Here are some of the previous years' posters:

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Whatsapp The 2015 and 2016 posters for Party in the Paddock.

What ads are banned?

Facebook explains what is 'sexually explicit' and 'sexually suggestive' here.

Sexually suggestive content includes "images focused on individual body parts, such as abs, buttocks or chests, even if not explicitly sexual in nature."

Here are some of the examples Facebook provides.

Sexually suggestive:

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Sexually explicit:

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You may notice the examples are all female. Facebook's community guidelines (aka what you can post on the page, not what you can promote as ads) also disallow women showing their nipples - but are OK with male nipples. This 'female nipple ban' has been attacked as 'sexist and absurd' and targeted by the #FreeTheNipple campaign.

Jesse Higgs, PITP founder and director, told Hack PITP is now running a #FreeTheButt campaign.

He said the mascot represents a friend of the organisers, Chris, who died aged 21 while travelling overseas five years ago. The rabbit in the hay bale is from a tattoo on Chris's body, the mascot's hot air balloon tattoo is a reference to Chris' favourite song: Float On by Modest Mouse.

"This is a piece of artwork, we're not trying to be lewd," Jesse said.

"It's always been part of our branding.

"It's a cartoon bum. It's really not offensive to anybody."

'I urgently need some support'

Jesse provided a transcript of the chat conversation between a Facebook representative and the agency in charge of PITP's digital promotions.

The conversation happened about two weeks ago, in early November, after a PITP promoted post was blocked for having 'too much text'.

The agency asked Facebook to review the decision.

The agency asked for an update:

Facebook: Thank you for contacting Facebook Advertising Support. How may I assist you today?

Agency: Hey. I messaged earlier about a poster I was trying to promote for PITP. That had too much text.

F: Yes, we chatted about that earlier on.

A: Now, not only is this still disapproved, but so is every advert for the entire campaign.

F: I was about to reach out to you via email. Since you came onto the chat, I will provide the update.

A: This is a crucial time for the festival. So I urgently need some support.

F: I have heard back from Ads Policy team. The ad was rejected correctly for containing imagery with a nude figure. As per our public policy. Nudity in advertising is not allowed on the platform. Attached is the image which shows the violation. I would suggest to shy away from using this type of imagery.

A: That's the logo for the festival and is an integral part of their brand.

F: I understand this is a festival poster. However, such content is strictly prohibited on our platform. Hence, our Ads Policy team is unable to grant the ad approval.

PITP then censored its poster to get approval to promote it as an ad.

'We're in limbo'

Facebook earned more than $10 billion from ads in the 12 months to October, up 47 per cent year-on-year. Business is booming. More and more small businesses are relying on Facebook for promotion, and having to negotiate the strict ad guidelines.

Having ads blocked by Facebook has a big effect on a festival like PITP.

"It's our number one marketing tool," Jesse said.

He said he's noticed that 'organic' or non-promoted posts have been reaching fewer users and this has forced PITP to spend more on promoting its content.

"If you want to gain traction with a post you need to spend money," he said.

Jesse said that when PITP reached out to the platform to clarify its policy, it struggled to get a response from an Australian service person.

"It's potentially going to shift our branding," Jesse said.

"The simple fact is we're not even quite sure we're doing the right or wrong thing because Facebook hasn't given us any proper answer yet."

"We're in a kind of limbo.

"It'd be nice if Facebook could define more clearly its ad guidelines especially when local businesses are spending large quantities of money."

Hack has contacted Facebook for comment.