Who: Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP)
Where: United Kingdom
When: 21 November 2023
Law stated as at: 23 January 2024
What happened:
The CAP and BCAP have been undertaking a review of body image in advertising since 2021.
Within an interim statement published in 2022 in relation to the review, CAP and BCAP set out certain key policy areas for which they committed to undertake further enquiry work. One of these key areas related to the potential body image-related harms arising from particular body ideals depicted or presented in ads, including through the use of digital alteration techniques.
While the full outcome of their review is not expected to be published until spring 2024, CAP and BCAP have recently shared an update on their progress in assessing whether the existing protection offered by the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing and the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising adequately addresses the harms caused by using digital alteration techniques.
Current policy framework
The codes’ rules state that marketing communications must be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and society. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld complaints which relate to the potential harm that can arise from negative body image in advertising under these rules. For example, the ASA considered adverts in which influencers’ waists had been digitally altered to look artificially thin to be socially irresponsible.
The CAP and BCAP rules also prohibit misleading advertising and the ASA has mainly considered complaints relating to the use of production techniques on images in ads under these rules. There is CAP guidance available on the use of pre- and post-production techniques in cosmetic ads and on the use of production techniques in beauty ads, which makes clear that such techniques should not misleadingly exaggerate the effect that a product is capable of achieving. In recent years, the ASA has upheld complaints against a number of influencers for using post-production techniques such as beauty filters to exaggerate the performance of the cosmetic products they are promoting.
Roundtable policy discussions
As part of their assessment as to whether the existing protections offered in the codes adequately address the potential harms caused by digitally altered techniques, CAP and BCAP hosted a roundtable discussion which brought together industry stakeholders.
The potential introduction of the following regulatory measures were discussed by the stakeholders:
- an outright prohibition on the use of digital alteration in adverts;
- a requirement to label ads that feature digital alteration (as is imposed in Norway, France and Israel); and
- threshold-based digital alteration restrictions which prohibit the use of significantly altered images that result in body image harms.
Stakeholders also discussed the fact that businesses could take voluntary action by adopting internal policies stipulating that they will not work with influencers who digitally alter body parts or proportions in their images, pressure viewers to conform to unhealthy body shapes or are likely to create body confidence issues.
Next steps and why this matters
The CAP and BCAP are considering the insights that came out of the stakeholder roundtable discussions in advance of publishing the outcome of their review of the existing protections offered under the codes in spring 2024. The update statement reminds businesses that, in the meantime, the ASA will continue to take action against ads in which digitally altered images are used in a misleading or irresponsible manner. Looking ahead, businesses should anticipate increased scrutiny of the way in which body image is used in advertising and particularly into the use of digitally altered body images. Regulatory changes to introduce measures such as those discussed at the stakeholder roundtable may even be on the horizon.
