Hong Kong  - Posters advertising Bruno, the comedy movie about a gay fashion reporter played by Sacha Baron Cohen, have been banned from Hong Kong train stations ahead of the film's release Thursday.

Posters showing Bruno posing in yellow lederhosen and a hat along with text about the raunchy spoof film were deemed too graphic for Hong Kong commuters, the South China Morning Post reported.

The posters were due to go up at underground train stations around Hong Kong along with a plasma TV preview on platforms before the film's release in the city of 7 million on Thursday.

But the advertising agency responsible for commercials on the underground network used by 3 million people a day decided the Chinese wording of the full film title was too raunchy.

The Chinese version of the film's title suggests that Bruno strips naked and pursues American men for sex, while the film's official full title in English is tamer.

The full English title of the film is "Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt."

A spokesman for the advertising agency told the newspaper: "We do not feel comfortable with the wording of the Chinese title.

"Unlike other public areas, where pedestrians are easily distracted, the (underground railway) is a very captive environment and passengers pay attention to everything in detail. These words could cause discomfort among passengers."

The poster is being shown elsewhere in Hong Kong and has been approved, along with the film itself, by official entertainment licensing authorities in Hong Kong. (dpa)