The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the United Kingdom has banned outdoor advertising of an ethical fashion brand Nobody’s Child for being “irresponsible and offensive”, as well as sexualising the young model who stars in the campaign.
The two billboards were displayed on bus shelters seen in November 2015 were described by the ASA ruling:
a. One ad featured a female model wearing a black jumpsuit and heeled shoes, sitting on the arm of a sofa with one leg bent in front of her resting on the sofa and her arms in a relaxed position. She was looking at the camera. Text stated “nobody’schild.com”.
b. The other ad featured the same model wearing a tartan dress, sitting on a chair facing towards the camera. One leg was slightly raised. Text stated “nobody’schild.com”.
The posters received three objections from people who believed the poses and facial expressions of the model sexualised someone who they considered appeared to be a child. The other complainant argued the images in conjunction with the brand name “Nobody’s Child”, implied the images were of a vulnerable child.
The brand responded by arguing the model in the ads was not sexualised and would not be perceived as being a child or vulnerable. It said the model was 21 years old and Nobody’s Child had chosen not to style her in heavy makeup or bright lipstick in order to avoid projecting any kind of vulgarity.
The ASA upheld the complaint, noting that in the first poster the model’s breast was partially exposed. “We considered that her poses and gaze in both ads were mildly sexually suggestive, and that her pose in second ad in particular also suggested vulnerability.
“We understood the model featured in the ads was 21 years of age but considered she appeared younger, and that when shown in conjunction with the prominent brand name “nobody’schild.com”, would be regarded as appearing to be a child. In that context, we considered that the model’s poses implied vulnerability and sexual precocity.”
