In response to petitions and advertiser objections, Facebook has removed many of its sexually offensive "joke" pages, created by users who were trying to be funny, the New Zealand Herald reported.

In response to petitions and advertisers prodding, Facebook has removed many of its sexually offensive joke pages, created by users who were trying to be funny

"You know she's playing hard to get when she gets your FB joke removed," says one of the Facebook pages that are left behind after the social network removed several "she-is-playing-hard-to-get" accounts.

Statement pages on Facebook encourage users to 'like' as an act of support or belief for the statement titles. But others like the pages out of mockery. At one point, Facebook users had to say, "Enough."

An account that said, "You know she's playing hard to get when you need another roll of tape," was too much for too many users. Hundreds of thousands of people called the attention of Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, signed online petitions, and joined a Twitter trending campaign to get the pages banned.

Another account says, "You know she's playing hard to get when she gets a restraining order." This page has more than 81,000 likes. Facebook told the Herald it was giving time for the account owner to comply with its rules and regulations before it moves to put down the account.

A couple of months ago, Facebook said those pages were like jokes in a pub -- harmless. What followed was the campaign for a page that say, "Just as telling a rude joke won't get you thrown out of your local pub, it won't get you thrown off Facebook." No changes happened then.

But then Facebook heard from advertisers who were worried that their brands would be associated with the pages in which their ads appeared.

Facebook then told the BBC Wednesday that "There is no place on Facebook for content that is hateful, threatening, or incites violence." It said offensive pages were removed because they breached the site's terms and conditions.

More than 188,000 people signed a petition to Zuckerberg to get the pages removed. On top of that, campaigners also went to Twitter to make sure #notfunnyfacebook would get the attention of the social network's executive and admin group.