‘My Night with Reg’ poster banned by TfL didn’t display nude bum
A poster for the revival of Kevin Elyot’s play ‘My Night with Reg’ which was banned from appearing at London Underground stations for featuring male nudity did not even contain a full bare bottom, it has been revealed.
‘My Night With Reg’, possibly Kevin Elyot’s best known play, won an Olivier Award in 1995, and was revived at the Donmar Warehouse last July-September. It is to transfer to the Apollo Theatre this weekend.
A Transport for London press officer told the Standard they hadn’t seen the ad but: “if it has been rejected it means that it doesn’t meet the guidance that we have set.”
The press office at TfL today pointed PinkNews towards the required advertising standards, which state that images which “display nude or semi-nude figures in an overtly sexual context”, will not be approved.
Now the official Twitter account for the play noted that the version of the artwork which was banned contained less nudity than was originally believed.
#bumgate for comparison… Both banned. pic.twitter.com/7X1joACHsm
— My Night With Reg (@MyNightWithReg) January 20, 2015
This image shows the rejected images, compared to the one which was eventually approved
Many have noted that the rejected image showed no more naked flesh than one featuring a man or a woman wearing swimming clothes.
Another ad, currently featured on London Underground stations for nutritional supplements features man naked, other than pixellation over his genitals.
This advert was approved, and is currently running on London Underground
On its premier in 1994, My Night With Reg defined a moment in the lives of gay men and became an instant classic.
The comedy is set in London’s gay community in the mid-1980s, against the back drop of the mounting AIDS crisis.
Transport for London did not immediately return a call for comment from PinkNews. TfL was asked why the bulkpowders.co.uk advert would have been approved, when the ‘My Night with Reg’ ad would not.
