The public image: Harvey Nichols" summer sale Client: Harvey Nichols; Agency: DDB UK; Territory: UK; Verdict: Zero "Pant-wettingly good" may be one of those comic phrases that has seeped into the English vernacular, but does it work as a visual joke? Not if the latest Harvey Nichols summer sale campaign is anything to go by. The ads, which appeared last week, show models striking poses in the latest fashions, each sporting a tell-tale stain in the groin area. "Try to contain your excitement," advises the strapline. The store says the ads are "a humorous reaction to the often-irrational excitement sale time engenders." But aside from the fact that incontinence doesn't obviously fit that well with the cool and sexy image that Harvey Nichols seeks to project, there is a basic problem: it just isn't funny. This appears belatedly to have occurred to the retailer. It has cropped the images on its own website so that the stains no longer appear - although it insists this is a planned "second phase" of the campaign. Harvey Nichols has long sought to affect an edgy vulgarity in its ads. Using shock in this way can work if it gets you talked about while also underscoring your rebellious, impish qualities in a positive way. But this requires the ads in question to be funny, clever or both. The "wet pants" campaign is neither.