Advertisers of Sex and the City: The Movie, which is due to debut on May 29, have decided to refrain from marketing the film in Jerusalem or Petah Tikva, even though they weren't requested to do so by municipal officials in either city.
Stars of the 'Sex and the City' TV series and movie from left, Kristin Davis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kim Cattrall, at the Berlin premiere of the movie.
Photo: AP
Maximedia, the billboard company that is advertising the film, decided not to hang posters or billboards in the two cities due to potential objections by the cities' large religious populations over the use of the word "sex" in the posters along with the photos of the film's stars.
The municipality of Petah Tikva, however, was not in touch with Maximedia or Forum Features - the company in charge of the film's general advertising - and had no part in the decision not to hang posters there.
"We're talking about a provocation on the part of the advertising company," said Hezi Hakak, a spokesperson for the city. "The municipality did not contact [the company] or ask that the posters, which haven't been hung up yet, be taken down."
Gidi Shmerling, a municipal official from Jerusalem, seconded those comments and called reports that the municipality refused to hang the posters "slander." "Despite these claims, the municipality did not receive any request regarding this subject," said Shmerling.
Representatives from Maximedia refused to comment on the issue.
The billboard company's desire to respect the sensibilities of the religious comes after a similar incident several years ago when advertisers replaced a poster for the "Sex and the City" TV show with lead actress Sarah Jessica Parker wearing an immodest dress with a poster of Parker in more modest clothing.
Such a compromise, according to Arye Barak, the Israeli spokesperson for Forum Films, is impossible this time.
"We told them, just as you don't remove the word 'Coca' from 'Coca-Cola' and just leave 'Cola,' we can't do it in this case," Barak told The Associated Press. "It's ludicrous."
AP contributed to this report.
