A supposedly comical ditty about rhinoplasty, performed by a Jewish musician, has raised questions about body image and religious stereotypes in the US.

The trouble started after a Miami plastic surgeon nicknamed "Dr Schnoz" commissioned Jewish punk rock group The Groggers to help him use social media to reach Jews between the ages of 15 and 30.

But it subsequently emerged that in return for recording the song A Nose Job Love Song, which features a character called "Jewcan Sam" (based on a cartoon from a cereal advert), lead singer LE Doug Staiman received a free nose job.

Mr Staiman said he told Jewish surgeon Dr Michael Salzhauer that most of the band had "massive, deformed noses.

"He generously offered nose jobs to the entire band. But I was the only one who went through with it."

Half of the video was filmed after Mr Staiman recovered from the surgery. Under the video on YouTube he wrote: "This video marks the first time in history that a band underwent plastic surgery for the sole purpose of a music video."

The song follows the woes of a kippah-wearing Jewish teenager who finds his nose to be an insurmountable obstacle to seducing the girl of his dreams. After surgery he is rejected anyway, although a teacher hits on him instead.

Dr Salzhauer said the song was never meant to be offensive, and argued that the moral was "that you shouldn't base your self-esteem on someone else or go under the knife to get validation from someone else… that never works out." He said his was a "cutting-edge" strategy to connect to a younger market. "It can start a discussion on something that is common but still a little bit stigmatised."

But the American Society of Plastic Surgeons said it was "offensive and inappropriate" and announced that it was investigating whether Dr Salzhauer had breached the ASPS code of ethics to "uphold the dignity and honour of the medical profession".