Who: The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Prettylittlething.com Ltd trading as Prettylittlething.com (PLT)
Where: United Kingdom
When: 22 June 2022
Law stated as at: 29 June 2022
What happened:
The ASA has ruled that a product listing for online fashion retailer PLT breached the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (CAP Code) because it objectified the model featuring in the ad. This was found to be irresponsible and likely to cause serious offence.
The complaint was raised in relation to a product listing for a pair of jeans. The advert featured an image of a topless woman using her crossed arms to cover her breasts. The second image in the listing showed the same woman with her head and shoulders cropped from the photo, using one of her hands to cover her bare chest.
PLT argued that adverts for women’s jeans historically included topless models and were “widely accepted as tasteful and inoffensive“. It claimed that they strived to use “inclusive, body positive imagery and communication” and to empower customers and boost their self-esteem. PLT stated that the imagery conformed with its approach of embracing diversity and freedom of expression. It considered that such images therefore conformed with advertising standards. While it did not believe that the product listing objectified women, it did remove the images from their website as it “appreciated the importance of the issue raised”.
The ASA found that appearing completely topless in the images was not relevant in an advert for jeans and “caused viewers to focus on the woman’s breasts”. It felt this objectified the woman by using her physical features to “draw attention to the jeans in a way that was not pertinent to the product.” In relation to the second photo, the ASA noted that the model’s head being excluded from the image meant her chest was exposed but not her face. It found this “removed the woman’s individuality and objectified her.”
The ASA concluded that the images objectified the woman and were therefore irresponsible and likely to cause offence in breach of CAP Code rules 1.3 and 4.1 respectively. The ad is not allowed to appear in its current form again.
Why this matters:
The ruling serves as a reminder to advertisers that in their pursuit of inclusivity and body positivity, they must not neglect their responsibility to consumers. The key takeaway is that advertisers must ensure that any attention drawn to physical features is pertinent to the product being advertised.
