Boohoo and Missguided ads banned for being "socially irresponsible" and "objectifying women"
16 October 2019, 16:51
The Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints against two separate adverts from Boohoo and Missguided. The authority said Boohoo's ad breached its "social responsiblity" code and that Missguided's ad "objectified women".
A complaint against an advert run by fashion retailer Boohoo has been upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) this week. The ASA found that a July 2019 marketing email and advert with the tagline "send nudes" breached its code of "social responsibility".
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Those who subscribed to Boohoo's email marketing material received an email on 15 July with the subject line "send nudes". Boohoo argued that they'd used the word "nude" to describe clothing that matched their customers' skin colour, but the ASA said "the phrase 'send nudes' was likely to be understood as referring to requests for sexual photos, which could be a form of sexual harassment".
In the photo attached to the email, a model can be seen wearing a beige blazer with text that says "send nudes" overlaying her outfit. In the photo, Boohoo encouraged shoppers to "set the tone with the new season hues".
Although the email seemed to come and go with very little fanfare, at least one person complained about the tone of the ad.
The ASA said: "The complainant challenged whether the reference to 'send nudes' was socially irresponsible."
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Boohoo has been warned not to run a similar ad and urged to make sure their ads were "socially responsible" in the future.
Another ad from fellow fast-fashion giant, Missguided, has also been banned this week for a Video on Demand (VOD) advert that the ASA said "objectified women".
The ASA deemed this ad, which aired during VOD breaks for Love Island 2019, "irresponsible and likely to cause harm".
We've got you covered, kind of ;) | Missguided - YouTube
The ad sees women in bikinis lounging on a boat and near a pool. It included promo for their controversial £1 bikini, which was criticised earlier in the summer for being "unsustainable". The words "if you plan on wearing clothes this summer … we’ve got you covered … kind of" also appear in the title and text of the ad.
The ad was called sexually suggestive, but Missguided responded that it was meant to appeal to shoppers who would be interested in the clothing advertised. They also said promoting it that way was "relevant, necessary and unavoidable" because the advert was for summer wear.
Missguided have also been banned from airing the advert in its current form.