YouTube censors Perfume Genius promo

Internet giant zaps promo shot for "adult theme", despite decidedly PG-rated content.

Matador, Perfume Genius’s label in the US, last night disclosed on Twitter that a promo video they had created for Perfume Genius’s new album ‘Put Your Back N 2 It’ had been rejected and taken down by YouTube/Google for being “non family safe”, despite it consisting solely of two men, Mike Hadreas and gay porn star Arpad Miklos, hugging.

YouTube/Google gave this to Matador: “The ad has been disapproved because it violates our Adult Image/Video Content policy. Per this policy, video content, audio, static imagery, and site content must be family safe. Any ads that contain non family safe material are disapproved. I noted to the team that the people in the video are not entirely unclothed, but the overall feeling of the video is one of a more adult nature, including promoting mature sexual themes and what appears to be nude content. As such, the video is non family safe. In order to have this video ad approved, you will need to bring it into compliance with our policy.”

According to Perfume Genius’s UK PR agent, “Matador asked twice for clarification about which part(s) were problematic and what edits they would require to bring it into compliance, and never received a response.”

If you’re wondering what prompted YouTube and Google to say this video was “promoting mature sexual themes”, have a look below.