The Associated Press

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has accused authorities of overreacting when they confiscated two display photos of scantily clad men and a woman from a Virginia store on the weekend and cited the store manager on a misdemeanour obscenity charge.

A city official later said the charge would be dropped.

"The marketing images in question show less skin than you see any summer day at the beach. And certainly less than the plumber working on your kitchen sink," the company, based in New Albany, Ohio, said in a statement Monday.

One photograph showed three shirtless young men, with one man's upper buttocks showing. The other image was of a woman whose breast was mostly exposed, authorities said.

Deputy city attorney Mark Stiles said the charge would be dropped, even though the photos might technically meet the nudity portion of the city bylaw that makes it a crime to display "obscene materials in a business that is open to juveniles."

He said it would be difficult to meet the other standards of the law: that the display appeal to prurient interests, lack redeeming artistic merit and be offensive to prevailing community
standards.

"You might see that typical vision walking down a street," Stiles said of the photo of the men.

Virginia Beach police issued a summons against the store manager Saturday after Abercrombie management did not heed warnings to remove the images from the Lynnhaven Mall store after some customers complained, police spokesman Adam Bernstein said.

Police charged the manager because there is no legal way to issue a summons to a corporate entity in such circumstances, Bernstein said. If convicted, the manager would have faced a fine of up to $2,000 US and as much as a year in jail. The manager declined comment.

Abercrombie & Fitch has earned a reputation for its risqué catalogues and promotional photography featuring sparsely dressed models.