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Missguided Advert Banned For Being 'Sexist' And 'Objectifying Women'

Missguided Advert Banned For Being 'Sexist' And 'Objectifying Women'

The poster features a model wearing sheer tights, high heels and a blazer with nothing underneath, exposing the side of one of her breasts

EMS 7

EMS 7

An ad for fashion retailer Missguided has been banned for being 'sexist'.

The ban arrived after a recent promotional poster received a number of complaints from people claiming that it 'objectified' women. It featured a model wearing sheer tights, high heels and a blazer with nothing underneath, exposing the side of one of her breasts.

SWNS

The ad was displayed on numerous train station platforms last November, promoting complaints from three parents who described the billboard as 'overly sexualised'.

Their concerns were upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and the Manchester-based fashion store was ordered not to use advertising that objectified women again.

Missguided has responded to the ruling, stating that while the ad did contain images of a young woman baring some degree of skin, it was 'in keeping' with industry norms as well as similar ads in the fast-fashion sector.

The company went on to confirm that promoting and encouraging 'female empowerment' was 'extremely important' to their business and, as such, they designed and promoted collections which enabled their customers to 'stand out from the crowd'.

They added that the poster was based on those themes which they believed were 'positive' and enabled their customers to be 'bold and brave'.

Nonetheless, the ASA maintains its stance that the imagery breached rules regarding 'harm and offence'.

An ASA spokesman said: "The model was wearing a blazer with nothing underneath, which exposed the side of her breast, and which was coupled with sheer tights, sheer gloves and underwear.

"We considered she would be seen as being in a state of undress and that the focus was on her chest area and lower abdomen rather than the clothing being advertised.

"We also noted that her head was tilted back, with her mouth slightly open, and her leg was bent and raised, which we considered was likely to be seen as a sexually suggestive pose.

"We considered that the sexually suggestive styling and pose would be seen as presenting women as sexual objects. Because the ad objectified women, we concluded that it was likely to cause serious offence.

"It must not appear again in its current form. We told Missguided Ltd not to use advertising that objectified women and which was likely to cause serious offence."

SWNS

A second commercial display - which was seen on the London Underground over the same period - was also considered by the ASA, although it was eventually cleared of breaching advertisement rules.

Although it featured the same model wearing a pink wrap mini-dress and showing her legs and cleavage, the watchdog deemed that it was 'no more than mildly sexual'.

"The wrap style of the dress and her pose, with one arm slightly behind her, meant that it fell open just by her breast, which we considered was likely to be in keeping with how the dress would ordinarily be worn, but featured no explicit nudity," added the ASA spokesperson.

"We also considered the focus of the ad was on the model in general and on the featured dress, rather than on a specific part of her body.

"While we acknowledged that some people might find the ad distasteful and the clothing revealing, we considered that the ad was unlikely to be seen as overtly sexual or as objectifying either the model in the ad or women in general and we therefore concluded the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence."

Featured Image Credit: SWNS

Topics: UK News