Calgary Transit is removing two ads for Virgin Mobile that show a man and woman embracing, after several public complaints.

Calgary Transit has removed two mobile phone ads, showing a man and woman in a passionate kiss, after complaints that they were too provocative.

The ads are part of a campaign by Virgin Mobile and feature the tagline "Hook up fearlessly."

Three different versions showing a couple embracing and kissing — with one person in each picture sporting angel's wings — were placed in about 50 bus shelters around Calgary over the holidays.

Ron Collins, a spokesman for Calgary Transit, said the company reviewed the ads after it received at least six complaints. About half a million people use Calgary Transit daily.

The review found two of the three ads were "too provocative," according to guidelines set by Advertising Standards Canada, said Collins.

"It's basically the positioning of the hands of the male on the female," Collins explained Thursday. "In one, the hand's on her buttocks. Another, it's on her thigh area and that sort of thing and so we didn't think that was appropriate."'

One ad, deemed "a little less risqué," will be allowed to stay up. Collins said the posters did not go through a regular screening process.

"What happens is the contractor will usually have us review something that looks like it might be inappropriate or contentious. And in this particular case, that didn't happen."

Some ads removed in Mississauga

Chris Baines, a spokesman for Virgin Mobile Canada, said the posters are an attempt to encourage people to fearlessly sign up with the mobile company, and to express their love for one another.

The ads did not go through a screening process, said a Calgary Transit spokesman. (CBC)

The company has no plans to change the ads.

"We're very proud of our ads," Baines told CBC News.

"We don't think there's anything wrong with them. They are just young couples passionately embracing or kissing. It's no more than that and they're a lot of fun."

Baines said some ads were taken down in the Mississauga, Ont., west of Toronto, after some "minor complaints."

Virgin began running the "Hook up fearlessly" campaign in four Canadian cities eight weeks ago with different images, including one of two men kissing. That ad wasn't run in Calgary.

Debi Andrus, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Calgary, said companies that target a younger audience often try to be provocative in their ads.

"That was how they wanted to connect with their target audience: use emotions and feelings and relate it to their phone. And of course, young people are emotionally attached to all of their devices," she said.

In October, Calgary Transit rejected a Glenbow Museum advertisement showing a sculpture of a naked newborn.

With files from Alison Myers