Ad warning youth about links between drinking and rape pulled by Pa. Liquor Control Board

(CBS/AP) PITTSBURGH - An ad meant to warn young adults about the links between heavy drinking and rape has been pulled by Pennsylvania's Liquor Control Board.

The ad shows an image of a women's legs on a bathroom floor with her underwear pulled down to her ankles, and the words "She didn't want to do it, but she couldn't say no."

Those critical of the ad said it was an example of suggesting victims are to blame for rape.

Stacey Witalec, spokeswoman for the Liquor Control Board, said the online ad was part of a larger campaign that started a few months ago on the website ControlTonight.com. She said people both supported and criticized the ad, but the board made the decision to pull it Wednesday evening.

"On an annual basis more than 97,000 people between the ages of 18 and 24 are the victims of alcohol-fueled sexual assaults," Witalec said.

Jennifer Storm, Executive Director of the Victim/Witness Assistance Program in Harrisburg, defended the ad. She said one sequence in the interactive ad stated very clearly that rape isn't the victim's fault.

"I feel strongly that we need to be having very frank conversations about prevention. Otherwise, all we're doing is intervening after the fact," Storms said.

One blogger from the website Jezebel did not agree, saying that rape is not just a bad thing that happens to someone because they drank too much. She wrote. "It's a deliberate act on the part of the rapist, a violation of another solely because the rapist wanted to rape. The sooner we acknowledge this, the sooner we'll be rid of stupid, finger wagging ads like these."

Many other ads in the campaign are still being used. They include warnings about the dangers of heavy drinking, including alcohol poisoning, drunk driving and drunken arguments.