Sour reaction to risque chocolate bar ad

Whittakers said its TV advert was tasteful. Photo / Supplied

Six complaints have been made to the Advertising Standards Authority about a chocolate ad because it shows too much flesh.

The Whittaker's Ghana Peppermint ad features a naked couple skinny-dipping in pools of chocolate and peppermint.

A man and woman shed their clothes before swinging naked into the pools, then tasting the chocolate and peppermint on each other's bodies.

The ad screened for the first time on free-to-air television during Desperate Housewives on Monday night, and on Sky TV a day earlier.

Whittaker's marketing manager Philip Poole said he thought the nudity was tasteful.

"We wanted to get across the premium quality taste Whittaker's chocolate has in an interesting and visually compelling way, and that was the brief to the agency.

"The story is a couple skinny-dipping in pools of chocolate, and there's clearly a bit of advertising hyperbole there, but I don't think it's done in an offensive way at all, I think it's done in a very tasteful way."

Poole said there were no restrictions on what time the ad could screen and there had been positive feedback.

The ad prompted more than 30 comments on the Whittaker's Facebook page, including: "I really like it! But I think some of the nanas out there will complain about the nudity." Another said: "Fantastic ad, something totally new."

Family First NZ spokesman Bob McCoskrie said the ad was okay as the nudity was subtle.

Advertising Standards Authority executive director Hilary Souter said complaints would be reviewed to determine whether there was a possible breach of the code.

If the code may have been breached, the advertiser and agency would be asked to respond before the complaint was formally considered.

Last year a complaint about nudity in Air New Zealand's "nothing to hide" campaign, featuring body-painted airline staff, was not upheld.

Meanwhile, an ad for Frank Allen Tyres with a woman's voice saying "I've no idea what tyres are" has also sparked a complaint for degrading women.