Puma

Status:   False.

Example:   [Collected on the Internet, 2003]

Origins:   Print advertising may be getting edgier all the time, but although (limited) nudity is now commonplace in ads run in popular glossy magazines, the level of sexual suggestiveness displayed in the purported PUMA ads displayed above is still outside the pale of mainstream acceptability, at least here in the United States. These images are not ads designed to sell PUMA brand shoes (in the U.S. or anywhere else); they're the creation of pranksters.

An inquiry to PUMA about these images drew the following response:

It has been brought to our attention that several unauthorized, sexually
suggestive advertisements portraying the PUMA brand have been released
over the Internet. We are appalled that images like these would be
created and distributed under the PUMA name. As a brand, we seek to take
a unique perspective toward our advertising in an effort to challenge the
boundaries of our industry; however we would never consider using these
tactics. We are in the process of researching the circumstances and
reserve any legal steps available.

Last updated:   12 March 2003