In Italy, his ads most certainly are. Italy’s Institute for Advertising Self-Discipline (IAP) has banned the advertisements for Tom Ford Eyewear, calling them “markedly vulgar” and claiming that one ad depicting a man’s finger in a woman’s mouth (above) “transcends the limits of simple bad taste and offends the sensibility” and that the “scene evokes an offending and abusive act against women, which degrades the dignity of the person.”

Prior to the ban, the images ran in three Italian magazines including Italian Vogue.

Tom Ford is known for his risque ads and the ads are tagged as “sexually explicit” on his website. But unlike his boob-cradled bottle of perfume ads, the current creative doesn’t even show any sexual body parts.

Let’s keep it real. We all know that this is only going to make his new line of eyewear even more popular. This is the kind of publicity designers would cut off their sewing arm for.

But what do you say: vulgar or no?