Mackenzie writes: "A woman in a hardly-there, leopard-print bikini is walking down a beach footpath. A guy clocks the oncoming girl and, rather than selfishly ogle her on his own, he gives his mates a nudge so that they can leer at her as a pack. Their approval is clearly evident as they loudly let rip a couple of ''phwoars'' while the camera pans to a shot of her bouncing breasts."
And again: "A barely pubescent boy with a banjo jumps out of a car singing a jingle recommending that if men see an attractive woman on the street they need to "spot and share, because, fellas, it's just what's right". The trio of gawking boys, meanwhile, can hardly contain their vocal enthusiasm as the woman walks past with a shy, but knowing, look.".
Mackenzie questions this: "The message is anything but subtle: women amount to little more than the sum of their breasts and behind, and men have an entitlement - indeed a duty - to ''share them around'' and publicly rate them with their mates." (SMH article)
In response to various complaints to the Advertising Standards Bureau, Pharmacare cited a global trend towards ''retrosexual'' culture, loosely defined as the opposite of the ''metrosexual'' tag. Retrosexuals, apparently, are men who embrace their masculinity and yearn to return to a time when ''men were real men'' and women could be given a cheeky pinch on the bum without it turning into a massive legal headache.
Mackenzie comments: "Such representations do contribute to our collective understanding of what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman. They reinforce a stereotype of female sexuality in which women's only value and power lies in looking and acting in a very particular way. And they clearly promote a message that ''real men'' know what women are good for - checking out with your mates, getting in to bed, and fetching you a beer afterwards."
Weighing up all this, as a father of four professional adult children, three of them women, a grandfather, a fifties baby boomer, this writer can speak of the sixties hippie era along with the enormous changes in Australia's freeing up of censorship.
Perhaps this sort of advertising is not as bad and wicked as Sarah Mackenzie suggests.
The censors have obviously looked at these advertisements and come down on the side of a broadening view of what society as a whole considers reasonable.
Life revolves around the attraction men have for women, and likewise women have for men. As a Baptist minister of 33 years and engaged in church life and young people's ministry across the spectrum of life, it comes as no surprise to me that such advertisements have the approval of the censors.
Surely this aspect of titillation and pleasure is portrayed as being part of normal life around us all and after all, it is the purpose of advertising; rather than any deep philosophical or social comment.
Attraction is a reality of life. But, in one particular recent advertisement, it was not the images that had it banned, rather the fact that the young man with the guitar was not wearing a seat belt.
Of greater interest to me as a Minister is the attitudes of some of the viewers. I'm sure that everyone watching realises that these images are a part of our wider society – they can go to any beach-side shopping centre and see these same scenes.
However, for the viewers own reasons - whether religious, cultural or political - like Sergeant Shultz in Hogan's Heroes, they put their hands over their eyes, yet open their fingers slightly, so as to see what's happening.
(1) Those with a religious bent are suspected of being too righteous by half and secret admirers of such entertainment; (2) while those with a cultural bent may require the second generation to go with the flow; and (3) those with a political bent may not want it as it's another step toward their power base 'slip away'.
It is fascinating that Jesus, while being part of his own Jewish culture, lived within the Roman culture, yet said a great deal about another 'kingdom' and its implications, such as justice, righteousness and following Him.
Jesus saw himself as part of this 'other' culture altogether, almost impervious to the other two.
As Christians, we might dare to follow His example and concern ourselves with the Kingdom of God, because, life goes on around us, regardless.
Reverend Mark Tronson is the founder of Well-Being Australia and is voted as one of Australia's 25 most influential Evangelicals by the national evangelical newspaper New Life. Before that he pioneered the Sports and Leisure Ministry in 1982 and served as the Australian Cricket Chaplain before retiring due to health reasons.