Rock band album cover ban echos Spinal Tap incident

An “overtly sexual” advertisement for a rock band which featured a semi-naked model leaning back in a pose “suggestive of an orgasm” has been banned.

The poster, for comedy metal band Steel Panther, showed the woman with her eyes closed and one hand on her crotch while two silver balls dangled between her legs.

The title of the band’s latest album 'Balls Out' was printed over the picture with the resulting image deemed likely to cause “serious and widespread offence”, the Advertising Standards Authority ruled.

The incident is almost identical to a scene in legendary mockumentary 'This is Spinal Tap', when the fictional band were not allowed to release their album 'Smell the Glove' because the cover was deemed to be offensive.