In the Asia countries, especially the South-east asian countries, we have a lot of culture restriction, law and regulations which are very different from the West. In Malaysia, sex-role advertising is basically forbidden and restricted by the government. It is because Malay is the biggest ethnic group, which practiced Islam which have to "tutup aurat" (cover your intimate part - including women's hair, shoulder and arms, thigh and legs, and more). In their believes, sex is only for husband and wife, it's very private and no to be promote. So, they have to avoid and remove any sexual images and appearance from the environment at the best effort.
I believed these AirAsia ads are rare cases which I didn't see it on the print, I believed that these are the ads campaign that runs online. Obviously, AirAsia is copying Virgin Atlantic which they selling hot girls as the air steward who offer the best service for the mens. It's mainly targeted to non-muslim, but it's improper in Malaysia context.
I can see the intention of banning sex in Malaysia, but "tutup aurat"in some of the states, like Terengganu, Perlis and other which is heavily practised Islam, it's unacceptable for me. Although banning sex in Malaysia is creating barrier for our creativity, but sometime it's a force to push us further. For example, MC2 (MC square) cleverly make fun of the "tutup aurat"restriction and came out an outstanding promoting video which widely shared until now.
