Banned, ham advert that hid the naked truth: Product claimed to be made in Britain when it was Irish (but the naked man strolling around was fine)

Advert drew 370 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)

The company said the advert demonstrated a ‘well-adjusted, comfortable, and completely non-sexual attitude to the human body’

ASA was fine with the nudity but said ad gave misleading information about where the ham was made

Watchdogs have ruled that a TV ad featuring a naked man strolling through the countryside wearing nothing but a cap was not offensive.

The commercial for Richmond ham was supposed to be a light-hearted attempt to present the product as natural and wholesome.

However, it drew 370 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) from shocked viewers with many arguing it was both offensive and unsuitable to be seen by children.

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Natural look: The nude picknickers in the advertisment that prompted 370 complaints

The TV ad showed the man standing in a field admiring a sandwich before strolling past a group of naked people who were eating a picnic.

As he walked, the man sang: ‘Oh Richmond ham, as nature intended, you've nothing to hide Richmond ham, to me you taste blooming splendid.’

A voice-over then added: ‘New Richmond ham. Britain's only ham made with 100 per cent natural ingredients.’

The company said the ad demonstrated a ‘well-adjusted, comfortable, and completely non-sexual attitude to the human body’, while surveys with mums had received a positive response.

'As nature intended': The ASA did not have a problem with the naked man in the ham advert

The company said the advert demonstrated a 'well adjusted, comfortable and completely non-sexual attitude to the human body'

The ASA accepted that defence and said customers would understand the 'light-hearted reference'

Misleading: The ASA took issue with the fact that the ham was made in Ireland and not Britain

That defence has been accepted by the ASA in a ruling published today.

The watchdog said: ‘Consumers would understand that it was a light-hearted reference to the product being 'as nature intended'.

‘Whilst we understood the ad may not appeal to everyone, we considered that it was not sexual in tone and we concluded that it was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.’

But, while the ASA was happy with the nudity, it has decided to ban the commercial on the basis it gave a misleading impression about where the ham was made.

For while the advertisement described it has ‘Britain’s only ham made with 100 per cent natural ingredients’, the product is actually made in Ireland by Kerry Foods.

The ASA said: ‘Whilst we accepted the ad did not refer directly to the provenance of the product, we considered that describing the product as Britain's only ham was likely to be interpreted by consumers as meaning the product was British in origin, when in fact that was not the case.

‘We therefore concluded that the claim was misleading.’