Religious objections block 'Sex and the City' posters in J'lem, Petah Tikva

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Forum Films, the Israeli distributor of the soon-to-be-released "Sex and the City" movie, won't be hanging advertising posters and billboards in Jerusalem and Petah Tikva because officials there don't want the word "sex" on display, said company spokesman Arye Barak. Municipal officials there asked to have the word "sex" removed from the posters, Barak said. "We told them, the way you don't remove the word "Coca" from "Coca-Cola" and just leave "Cola," we can't do it in this case," he said. "It's ludicrous." Advertisemnts for the movie, based on the popular TV series, were to go up elsewhere in Israel on Tuesday night, said an official at Maximedia, the Israeli company that is handling outdoor advertising for the movie. Alternative outdoor ads will not be hung in Jerusalem and Petah Tikva, though the movie is heavily advertised on TV, the Internet and in newspapers, Barak said. The worldwide release of the movie is scheduled for May 29.