A bus shelter ad showing naked couple provocatively entwined next to a packet of condoms is courting controversy in Brisbane thanks to its proximity to a Catholic primary school.

Australian Christian Lobby's Wendy Francis said she was prompted to contact outdoor advertisers AdShel after driving past St Ambrose's on Kelvin Grove Road, Newmarket and seeing the poster this morning.

Ms Francis, who unsuccessfully campaigned to have a gay safe sex ad removed from Brisbane bus shelters earlier this year, said the new poster was sexually offensive and contained no positive message about safe sex, deeming its placement across the street from the school as inappropriate.

The ACL Queensland branch director said members of the school community were distressed by the poster, and that AdShel had promised to remove the poster within an hour of receiving her complaint today.

AdShel could not be reached for comment when contacted by brisbanetimes.com.au.

The company attracted a fierce backlash earlier this year when it agreed to remove the 'Rip and Roll' safe sex campaign from bus shelters and billboards. Adshel went on to reverse the decision.

Ms Francis said she was "totally opposed to this pathetic advertising".

“I cannot see why you would place this ad outside a Catholic primary school, where school children catch their bus from," she said.

“I object to the highly sexual imagery in the ad, and the poster's message – 'zero or nothing' – it's pathetic, it doesn't even have safe-sex message, and all it does is show that money matters more than our children.”

Family Planning Queensland education officer Anthony Walsh said this time he had to agree with Ms Francis's point – to a degree.

He said FPQ was generally supportive of safe-sex advertising but the Ansell campaign was deliberately provocative, and contained confused messages about sexual health.

“I don't think that this campaign [promotes safe-sex] very well,” he said. “This ad would be better placed in, or near, an adult venue – its placement outside a Catholic school is unfortunate.”

But Mr Walsh said condom manufacturers struggled to capture the attention of their consumers, and often relied on sexy images to sell their products.

The couple in the ad appeared to be naked, with clothes painted on.

Amid rising rates of sexually transmitted infections in Australia, Mr Walsh said it was important to judge campaigns for condoms on their individual merits.

Latest figures from the Department of Health and Ageing show chlamydia is the most frequently reported sexually transmitted infection reported in Australian, with rates rising among men and women in the four years to 2008 along with syphilis.

Ansell was also approached for comment.

- Brisbane Times