The Talent Management bloggers have to hand it to Harvey Nichols’ marketing gurus; they’ve pulled a risky move that’s created some fantastic exposure of their upcoming summer sale.

The luxury British retailer sent out the above mailer last week showing a male and female model with wet patches on their crotches, accompanied by a tagline that reads ‘The Harvey Nichols Sale: Try to contain your excitement’.

While the booking agents and models here at the agency found the images amusing, many have been offended.

According to the Daily Mail, customers have called the ads ‘crass’ and ‘absolutely disgusting’, and one person stated that they do ‘not make me the slightest bit inclined to shop there!’

However, the retailer has been quick to defend the controversial imagery. According to a statement released by a Harvey Nichols spokeswoman, the shoot was inspired by a Pretty Woman quote: “We developed the campaign to promote our summer sale and capture the excitement in a light-hearted, humorous way. The images in our advertising were designed to be a visual representation of a well-known phrase.

“During the production of the campaign, we researched the use of this expression in popular culture and social media and were satisfied that it is both commonplace and invariably used in a playful, inoffensive manner, which was in-keeping with the tongue-in-cheek spirit in which we intended our campaign to be taken.”

While we’re not convinced that pee gets us in the mood to shop, the ads have done what they set out to do, with everyone in fashion talking about them!