http://reuters.com/news_article.jhtml;jsessionid=0OEVDQJ5UK3ICCRBAEKSFFA?type=humannews&StoryID=1598568

YSL Goes Full-Frontal with Men's Fragrance Ad October 18, 2002 10:40 AM ET PARIS (Reuters) - American designer Tom Ford has set a new milestone for sex in advertising with the print commercial for the new Yves Saint Laurent men's fragrance, which features a reclining full-frontal nude male model.

The black-and-white publicity shot for the M7 fragrance, which stars former martial arts champion Samuel de Cubber, will be published from Oct. 24 in a handful of fashion magazines, including the French edition of Vogue.

So-called porn chic has swept the advertising industry in recent years, but no company had previously dared to go all the way in showing a full-frontal nude.

"Perfume is worn on the skin, so why hide the body?" Ford, YSL's artistic director, said in a statement. "The M7 campaign is really pure, it's a very academic nude."

Advance peeks of the X-rated shot are already causing a stir in local media and could lead to a repeat of the protests triggered by the Yves Saint Laurent campaign for the relaunch of its women's perfume Opium two years ago.

Britain's Advertising Standards Authority ordered YSL to remove the billboard commercials, featuring model Sophie Dahl reclining in the nude, because they were "sexually suggestive."

Ford said the M7 campaign was a homage to a now infamous picture of Saint Laurent posing naked -- though with his legs modestly crossed -- for the photographer Jeanloup Sieff in 1971.

"I wanted to subtly remind people that the house of Yves Saint Laurent has always been a front-runner in presenting provocative images," he said.

Ford, who took over the design of YSL's ready-to-wear and perfume divisions in 2000, is offering mainstream media a toned-down version showing de Cubber from the waist up.

The model's hairy chest contrasts sharply with the waxed pectorals of the Australian modeling sensation Travis Fimmel, who stars in the campaign for Calvin Klein's new scent Crave.

"I wanted to show a man who represents a natural and relaxed image of male beauty," explained Ford.

YSL is owned by the Italian design house Gucci, an affiliate of Pinault Printemps Redoute.

-- Anonymous, October 18, 2002

Answers

I guess Pinault is a manufacturing name, but printemps means spring and redoute means fears. O-kay! And here's some more naked man stuff.

18 Oct 2002 18:53 BST Streaker proves a real knockout

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - A streaker disrupted a National Hockey League game between the Calgary Flames and Boston Bruins, but not quite as he planned.

The naked man jumped the boards at Calgary's Pengrowth Saddledome late in the third period on Thursday, only to slip on the ice and hit his head, briefly knocking himself out cold.

Paramedics covered the 20-year-old man with a blanket and carted him away on a stretcher, to the cheers of fans.

"Streakers aren't necessarily all that uncommon, but people who knock themselves out on the ice in front of thousands of people at a hockey game, yeah, that's a little more rare," Emergency Medical Services spokesman Mike Plato said.

The game ended in a 3-3 tie.

-- Anonymous, October 19, 2002

What is this, "Up With the Penis Day"?

Index Finger Length Can Predict Penis Size: Study

October 18, 2002 05:42 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - On the heels of a previous report that debunked the notion that a man's shoe size could be used to estimate the length of his penis, a new study now claims that those with inquiring minds need merely take a gander at a man's forefinger.

According to Greek scientists, the length of a man's index finger can accurately predict the length of his penis. The findings are published in the September issue of the journal Urology.

Dr. Evangelos Spyropoulos and colleagues from the Naval and Veterans Hospital of Athens, Greece say they conducted their investigation to gather more information on the relationship between body measurements and male genitalia size. They argue that such information--as well as a clearer definition of "normal penile size"--will help doctors counsel and treat the many men who are concerned about perceived inadequacies relating to their genitals.

The "lack of standardized metric data and the absence of widely acceptable criteria on the proper size of the external genitalia poses major difficulties in the counseling and/or treatment of young adult men with worries of sexual inadequacy," the authors write.

In their study, Spyropoulos and colleagues measured penile length and testicular volume in 52 healthy young males between the ages of 19 and 38 and compared them with other body measurements including height, weight, body mass index, index finger length and waist/hip ratio.

In lieu of measuring a man's erect penis, the team measured the flaccid, gently stretched penis, which they note is statistically correlated to erect penis length.

"Age and (body measurements) were not associated with the size of the genitalia, excluding the index finger length, which correlated significantly with the dimensions of the flaccid, maximally stretched, penis," the report indicates.

"We realize that the study population was relatively inadequate and suggest that a greater scale study with a significantly larger number of subjects is needed to confirm the observations, particularly the demonstrated trend of penile length with index finger length," Spyropoulos and colleagues conclude.

SOURCE: Urology 2002;60:485-491.

-- Anonymous, October 19, 2002

So, in other words, when men feel inadequate about their equipment the doctor can give them the finger?

-- Anonymous, October 19, 2002

So how is that they stretched and measured while maintaining flaccidity?

-- Anonymous, October 19, 2002

Very carefully, I should think.

-- Anonymous, October 19, 2002

Beckie,

I wanted you to know that before I posted to Old Git's post on this subject that I did the inny-minny-miney-moe to pick which thread I was going to post to. I didn't know who had started either of the threads.

As to the flaccid discussion.... I ain't even gonna touch it.

-- Anonymous, October 19, 2002

Oh my God, that's SO funny! I'm not going there, I'm not, I'm not!

-- Anonymous, October 19, 2002