Bill-Monica Buzz Not Lost on Audacious Advertisers

The presidential scandal involving former White House intern Monica Lewinsky is becoming fodder for advertising.

Take the splashy four-page ad for designer Tommy Hilfiger appearing in this month’s Vanity Fair. Spread across two pages is a shot of a handsome man getting off a helicopter parked on the White House lawn. The two pages that follow show an attractive young woman seated atop a presidential desk.

A Los Angeles computer retailer is taking a more direct approach, declaring that its “prices are dropping faster than the president’s pants.”

The ads offer another example of how quickly the ad business incorporates headlines to grab attention. But have advertisers crossed the borders of good taste? And do they care?

The president of West Los Angeles-based Personal Support Computers, which placed the racy ad in The Times last week, says he cares--and has fired the employee who placed the ad.

“I’m truly sorry for the ad,” said Behzad Eshghieh. “I was on vacation when the ad was placed. . . . I feel the manager took advantage of the situation.”

Eshghieh said his decision was based on his own judgment that the ad was unacceptable. His business received only “a couple” of irate calls, he said.

Hilfiger, meanwhile, said in a statement that his ad “showcases the optimistic spirit and energy of classic Americanism.”

A spokeswoman for Hilfiger said the ad was shot in Griffith Park in the spring and wasn’t inspired by recent events. She said the clothing designer hadn’t received any complaints about the ad.

Neither firm reports hearing from the White House. However, in January the administration registered an official complaint about an ad for Excite Inc., an Internet search engine company, suggesting that President Clinton’s handwriting showed a desire to “buy lingerie for that special someone.”

“The campaign was almost over, so we just let it run down,” said Brett Bullington, executive vice president of Excite.