The Advertising Standards Complaints Board has upheld a large number of complaints against billboards in New Zealand's major cities depicting male-to-male rape, advertising party pills. Advanced Herbal Supplements produced three billboards depicting an allusion of homosexual rape in either a prison cell or communal prison shower, with the slogan “because jail sux”. “Using prison and the horrific events that can occur in jail is the most powerful way to ensure the socially responsible message of ‘don't do illegal drugs' is understood,” said a spokesman for the party-pill distributor. The board disagreed that the message was “socially responsible”, upholding a number of complaints and unanimously agreed that the advertisements were both disturbing, and were “likely to cause widespread offence”. One complainant noted that the allusion to male rape was in poor taste, particularly as one of the billboards was 50 metres from Auckland Girls Grammar School. Other complaints to the board said the billboards inappropriately used the serious subject of rape to sell party pills, could be upsetting to those with family members in prison, and that the images were degrading to homosexuals. All of the offending billboards have been withdrawn on the recommendation of the Advertising Standards Complaints Board. Ref: Dominion Post (k)