Promoter apologises for Guns N' Roses poster

A Las Vegas resort criticised for a suggestive ad promoting Guns N' Roses is apologising for the flap and changing the artwork.

Ads for the band's four-week run at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino depicted a dishevelled woman who appeared to have been raped beneath a "Welcome to Sin City" sign.

The artwork came to the attention of county commissioners after they temporarily renamed a street Paradise City Road in honour of the band's famous song. Rape crisis groups decried the campaign, saying it glorified domestic violence and could re-traumatize victims.

The Hard Rock issued a statement saying it regretted that the campaign offended members of the community, and it started modifying the ads last Friday.

The offending image is a version of one of the most controversial album covers in rock history. It originally graced Guns N' Roses' album Appetite for Destruction but was later replaced. It shows a woman slumped against a wall with a rapist looming over her, as a bat-like creature descends on the attacker.