Controversy
Due to the adult nature of the business, Ann Summers has frequently faced opposition, both legal and social. For example, in 2003, they won a legal battle to advertise for employees in job centres[14] and an Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) complaint was rejected.[15]
They have also encountered opposition to their advertising. The company received a letter of complaint from Buckingham Palace, due to a non-endorsed advertisement featuring the Queen.[16]
In 2003, the company's payments to party organisers were discussed by a number of media sources.[17]
In 2004, two complaints were upheld by the ASA.[18] The ASA decided that the first ad was degrading to women, offensive and unsuitable for use as a poster. In the second case the ASA ruled that the use of a reference to the nursery rhyme "Ride a Cock Horse" was likely to attract the attention of children and that the advertisement was unsuitable for the medium in which it appeared.
An Ann Summers lingerie factory in Portsmouth closed in 2005, with over 50 redundancies.[19]
Additionally, Ann Summers in Perth, Scotland, was forced to close after the local people complained about the store (mostly from parents embarrassed by questions raised by their children), which also led to other problems with the store.[20] Perth was originally the only UK town where an Ann Summers store failed to take off.[21] However, in May 2007 the Middleton Grange, Hartlepool store which opened in November 2005 was closed after less than two years of trading due to poor sales.[22]
In 2006, Muslim groups complained about the release of a blow-up doll named Mustafa Shag, claiming that the doll was offensive to Muslims as Mustafa was one of the names given to the Prophet Mohamed.[23]
In 2007, the company faced legal issues with Apple Inc due to its release of an electronic add-on to music players called the. The company has not backed down despite cease-and-desist orders by Apple.[24] Also, a former director, who is now a Beate Uhse AG employee[25] is pursuing a libel claim against Jacqueline Gold.[26] An advertisement was banned from the London Underground in the same year.[27]
In 2010, Ann Summers' Halloween advertisement was banned by the Radio Advertising Clearance Centre, which decided the advertisement used "fairly overt sexual references in terms of sound effects."[28]
In 2011 an advertising campaign which featured a pastiche of a Marks and Spencer advertisement was withdrawn after a threat of legal action by M&S.[29]
In 2025, after claims that Marks and Spencer banned transgender women from giving or receiving bra fitting services in response to a complaint about a shop assistant in the clothing section believed to be trans asking a customer if they needed any assistance, Ann Summers said that trans women were welcome to all services offered at their stores.[30]
