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Ads featuring sexy ladies have been around since the 19th century and repeatedly sparked controversy, deliberately or not. The recent fuss came about a Polish coffin company that seems to be determined to prove the idiom “sex sells” by using barely-dressed models to promote their caskets in an annual calendar, the Voice of Russia reported.

According to Rocket News 24, Polish coffin maker Lindner has been running the marketing stunt since 2010, aiming to lighten people's views towards caskets and showcase its work.

The After the death of eroticism calendar features half-naked beauties in provocative underwear posing over a dead man or pictured with coffins.

The firm donates the profits to charity and gives away a free coffin-shaped pendant with each purchase, reports say. A spokesman for Lindner explained the marketing strategy: “For this calendar we came back to nature, which we express with perfect harmony between Lindner coffins and natural wood, blue sea, red flowers, green fields and beauty of the female body.”

But not everyone is so enthusiastic about this kind of promotion. The erotic calendars have sparked the wrath of Catholics in Poland and local churches have reportedly condemned Lindner's creation, saying death should not be mixed with sex.

The church said the calendars were “inappropriate” but Zbigniew Lindner, the firm’s owner, defended them.

“My son had the idea of creating the company’s calendar so that we could show something half-serious, colorful, beautiful; the beauty of Polish girls and the beauty of our coffins,” he said.

“So much work goes into our coffins that are only seen for a few moments at the funeral. We wanted to show that a coffin shouldn’t be a sacred object – it’s furniture, it’s the last bed you’ll ever sleep in. It isn’t a religious symbol. It’s a product. Why are people afraid of coffins and not of business suits, cosmetics or jewelry?” Linder owner said.