10/04/2013

American Apparel Have Third Ad Banned Over Content

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has again upheld complaints made against controversial retailer American Apparel.

The clothing chain, which has had three ads banned in just four months, featured a string of images of two women on the "advertising" page of the company website.

The ASA received complaints that the two models were shown in vulnerable positions, and that the images were offensive, overtly sexual and objectified women.

The watchdog ruled that the images of the scantily clad women were "gratuitous" and "overtly sexual".

American Apparel UK said it "did [its] best to abide by the standards of the industry, as well as creating authentic, honest and memorable images relevant to their customer base".

The ASA banned the campaign for breaching the advertising code under harm and offence rules.

"We considered the ads were likely to cause serious offence to visitors to American Apparel's website," it said. "The ads must not appear again in their current form."

(H/CD)


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