Facebook Rejects Ad for Lesbian Film 'And Then Came Lola'

Facebook has mysteriously rejected an advertisement for the Fast Girl Film's project And Then Came Lola, which stars Jill Bennett, Ashleigh Sumner, and Cathy DeBuono. The photo depicts the three lesbians in what coproducer Ellen Seidler calls the "sandwich shot," a sexy but by no means gratuitous shot of three women holding each other.

Of course, the social networking zeitgeist Facebook employs a slew of guidelines that ads must adhere to in order to be used, but apparently they only apply those guidelines part of the time. Those in charge of Facebook ads rejected the And Then Came Lola advertisement on the following basis: 

"The image of this ad is either irrelevant or inappropriate. Per sections 3 and 8 of Facebook's Advertising Guidelines, the image on your ad should be relevant and appropriate to the item being advertised. Make sure your image is directly relevant to what you are advertising. Images that are overly explicit, provocative, or that reveal too much skin are not allowed. Images that may either degrade or idealize any health condition or body type are also not allowed. If you choose to submit this ad again, please use an appropriate image that adheres to all of Facebook's Advertising Guidelines."

Here is the ad that Fast Girl Films submitted to Facebook:

Seidler told SheWired that she was using targeted Facebook ads only, which means the And Then Came Lola ads would only appear on pages of women interested in women and women over 18 years of age.

In the Ads FAQ section on Facebook, regarding image disapproval gives a link to the Advertising Guidelines, where they say:

"Facebook is committed to protecting our user experience by keeping the site clean, uncluttered, and free from intrusive advertising. We believe that we can help transform existing advertising on Facebook into tailored messages to our users, because they are based on how their friends interact and affiliate with the brands, music artists, and businesses they care about."

On the Facebook Page for the film, screen grabs of advertisements with straight people shirtless, making out, and in comparable positions to the And Then Came Lola ad are posted.  Some ads Facebook has accepted include women's bare legs, one woman swapping spit with a man, and even blood, are all approved. A status update for the film's Page made a point with the question that "blood is ok, but smiles aren't?"