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Fashion retailer Boohoo has had an ad banned for being likely to cause widespread offence by objectifying women.
A T-shirt listed on the website in November was portrayed by a model accompanied by just thong-style bikini bottoms and trainers.
Images included a rear view that showed her kneeling, another showed her sitting on the ground with her legs apart and a third was an upper-body shot that showed the model lifting the T-shirt as if to remove it and exposing the skin on her stomach and side.
‘Sexually suggestive’ Boohoo ad banned. (screengrab issued by the Advertising Standards Authority)
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Advertising Standards Authority brands images ‘sexually suggestive’
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received a complaint that the images objectified and sexualised women, and the ad was offensive, harmful and irresponsible.
The ASA said two of the images were “sexually suggestive” while the image of the model lifting the T-shirt to expose her stomach and side emphasised her exposed skin rather than the product.
The regulator said: “We also noted that neither the partial nudity nor the bikini bottoms were relevant to the product and that the images did not show the product as it would usually be worn.
“For those reasons, we concluded that the ad objectified and sexualised women. It was therefore irresponsible and likely to cause serious offence.”
The ASA ruled that the ad must not appear again in its current form, adding: “We told Boohoo.com UK to ensure that future ads were prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society, and that they did not cause serious or widespread offence or harm by objectifying women.”
Boohoo respond to ‘sexually suggestive’ advert ban
Boohoo said the images were part of their swimwear category and explained the model was wearing the T-shirt with a bikini.
The retailer said they understood the importance of the issues raised and had removed the…
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Source : times
