Dakota Fanning's perfume ad banned in the UK for being 'sexually provocative'

A perfume ad featuring "Twilight" actress Dakota Fanning clutching a bottle of perfume has been banned in the United Kingdom after the country's Advertising Standards Authority found it to be inappropriate and "sexually provocative" because of the 17-year-old actress' age and appearance, according to the BBC.

The board said in a statement that the ad "could be seen to sexualize a child."

"We noted that the model [Fanning] was holding up the perfume bottle which rested in her lap between her legs and we considered that its position was sexually provocative," the statement said. "We understood the model was 17-years-old but we considered she looked under the age of 16. We considered that the length of her dress, her leg and position of the perfume bottle drew attention to her sexuality."

"Because of that, along with her appearance, we considered the ad could be seen to sexualize a child," the statement continued. "We therefore concluded that the ad was irresponsible and was likely to cause serious offence."

The ad was for the Oh Lola! perfume by Marc Jacobs and it can be seen above. Coty UK, the company behind the perfume and the ad, said they had not received any complaints about it, despite the fact that it had appeared in several fashion magazines in the country.

The ad first began appearing in print on August 5, 2011. According to the ASA report, Coty UK "did not believe the styling in the ad suggested the model was underage or that the ad was inappropriately sexualized because it did not show any private body parts or sexual activity. They believed the giant perfume bottle was provoking but not indecent."

In August it was reported that Fanning had graduated from high school and was set to attend New York University in the fall.

She is enrolled at NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, a college spokesperson told OnTheRedCarpet.com on Thursday, August 25.

The Georgia native rose to fame as a child actress when she appeared alongside Sean Penn in the 2001 movie "I Am Sam."

In 2002, she starred in the romantic comedy "Sweet Home Alabama," which featured Reese Witherspoon in the main role, and played Allie Keys in the mini-series "Taken" in 2002. Fanning starred in the 2005 reboot of "War of the Worlds" with Tom Cruise and in the 2006 film "Charlotte's Web." In 2009, Fanning starred in the movie "Push" and played the vampire Jane in "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," the second film in the hit series starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson.

In 2010, Fanning co-starred with Stewart in the music biopic "The Runaways" and reprised her role in the third "Twilight" movie, "Eclipse." Fanning plays the same part in the fourth and final installment, the two-part "Breaking Dawn." Part 1 is set for release on November 18.

Fanning recently filmed the independent film "Now Is Good" and has several more movies in the works - "Effie" with Emma Thompson, "Mississippi Wild" with Mickey Rourke and "Very Good Girls" with Dustin Hoffman." All films are due out in 2012.