The Leisure and Cultural Services Department might be serious about its ultra-restrictive beach signs, but the rest of the world finds them hilarious.

So funny, in fact, that Shek O beach's legendary anti-fun sign - which appears to ban everything - is being used in a Scandinavian condom advert. The ad, first in July, reprints a picture of the sign, adding the instruction: 'Stay home.'

'The idea behind the ad is that with so many restrictions on life you really ought to stay in the bedroom and use the product,' said Hong Kong ad agency TBWA's associate creative director, Jonathan Bain, who helped create the poster ad for Scandinavian firm RSFU.