The watchdog agency on Wednesday criticized Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana for two ads it said were irresponsible and breached standards of good taste in publishing the ads.

    The ads showed male models waving knives while surrounded by female models in poses inspired by the paintings of French romantic artist Eugene Delacroix. One man was shown lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the head.

    The independent authority, which regulates the industry, issued the report after 166 people complained that two ads, which appeared in The Times and Daily Telegraph in October, glorified knife and gun crime. The ruling amounts to a slap on the wrist and doesn't ban the ads.

    It upheld complaints that Dolce & Gabbana had shirked its social responsibility and breached standards of decency. But it dismissed a complaint that the ads would encourage people to harm themselves.

    Dee Edwards, a founding member of Mothers Against Murder and Aggression and one of those who complained, said she hoped the ruling would send a message to other advertisers.

    "These adverts were at best distasteful and at worst dangerous," she said.

    Dolce & Gabbana said the ads were printed around the globe, but the only complaints had come from people in Britain. The company argues the ads were "highly stylized and intended to be an iconic representation of the Napoleonic period of art."

    (Agencies)