London – Gucci’s latest video campaign for its ready-to-wear collection
has been banned by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority.
The ad, which first featured on TheTimes.co.uk features a very thin woman
leaning against a wall wearing a long printed dress. The photo accentuates
her very thin, almost bony waist, and a gaunt, expressionless face.
In its ruling the ASA said: “We considered that her torso and arms were
quite slender and appeared to be out of proportion with her head and lower
body. “Further, her pose elongated her torso and accentuated her waist so that it
appeared to be very small. “We also considered that her sombre facial expression and dark make up,
particularly around her eyes, made her face look gaunt.”
Guccio Gucci SpA stated the ads were part of a video that portrayed a dance
party and was aimed at an older, sophisticated audience. They noted that
the target population of The Times, where the ad appeared, had an adult and
mature readership. They said it was, to some extent, a subjective issue as
to whether a model looked unhealthily thin. which they considered was not
the case for either of the women identified by the complainant.
This is not the first time a Gucci ad has been banned. Back in 2003 in the
Tom Ford era, model Carmen Kass was photographed by Mario Testing exposing
the letter ‘G’ shaved into her pubic hair. The ad was also banned in the UK
by the ASA.
The Advertising Standards Authority is the UK’s independent regulator of
advertising across all media. They apply the Advertising Codes, which are
written by the Committees of Advertising Practice. Consumers can complain
if they find ads offensive, which the ASA will subsequently investigate.
Image:Gucci