Fiat's Seduction campaign too hot to handle in US

The advertisement for Fiat's Abarth 500 Esseesse features Romanian model Catrinel Menghia. Photo / Supplied

An advertisement launching the Abarth 500 Esseesse in the United States has been called "too sexy" for American television audiences.

Carmaker Fiat's go-fast division unveiled the car at the Los Angeles motor show before letting the 60-second ad go viral on the internet.

The reaction was immediate, with some commentators expecting it to be banned from US living rooms.

Fiat USA chief executive Olivier Francis said: "I am considering running it as a TV advertisement, too, but I am not sure. It may be too much."

Said USA Today columnist Chris Woodyear: "We wouldn't be surprised if Fiat has trouble getting this TV ad on the air in some places. But sexy or not, it's still a lot of fun."

The ad is called "Seduction" and opens with a man walking down the street with a coffee, when he stops to watch a young woman in a black dress bend over to adjust a strap on a shoe. It is a provocative pose.

The woman, played by Romanian model Catrinel Menghia, spots him staring, grabs him by the tie, chastises him, then dips her finger into the coffee cream and ... press play to see the rest.

Could the advertisement run in New Zealand? Quite probably.

But not across the ditch - not because of the sexual theme, but because of the last 15 or so seconds of the ad. It shows the Abarth 500 at speed, doing wheelies and handbrake turns. Such driving would fall foul of Australian advertising rules.