ROME, April 15, 2008 (AFP) - A suggestive sunglasses advert for American designer Tom Ford showing a woman's lips biting a man's finger was banned in Italy Tuesday April 15th for being too "vulgar."

Tom Ford Advertising

The offending ad, already published in three Italian's womens' magazines, has been ruled out of order by the Italian Advertising Institute (IAA), which called it "sexually implicit".

The advertisement is viewable on his website -- with the warning "Sexually Explicit Images."

The ad shows the finger entering her red lips as the model wears Tom Ford sunglasses.

Other ads in the same series show a naked woman clutching the crotch of a man in a suit, and another of a naked woman ironing whilst man drinks champagne and clutches a cigar.

The IAA's ruling said the image was "deeply vulgar and went beyond bad taste to actually offend the public's sensibility."

It deplored the "explicit and provocative character" of the image which "goes beyond acceptable limits for advertising aimed at the general public."

The ad "is an offensive gesture which insults women and the dignity of all", it concluded.