Too sexy and too skinny – the adverts we hated
THE controversial weight loss poster asking women ‘Are you beach body ready?’ is among the most complained about adverts of 2015.
Others that were said to be ‘overtly sexual’ or to encourage bad language also feature on the top ten list released by advertising watchdogs.
The ‘ beach body’ poster showing a model in a yellow bikini is at number five in the list. Commissioned by Protein World to promote its slimming supplements, it provoked furious complaints that it amounted to ‘fat shaming’.
More than 71,000 signed a petition calling for it to be banned, while 380 contacted the Advertising Standards Authority to say it was irresponsible and offensive.
However, the ASA rejected the criticism, saying there was no harm in depicting what it called a toned and athletic model.
Perhaps surprisingly, the sexist portrayal of a man drew more complaints than any other advertisement. The MoneySupermarket advert featuring a man in denim hot pants and heels, twerking to a song by the Pussycat Dolls, drew 1,515 complaints.
Critics called it ‘ overtly sexual’, ‘ distasteful’ and ‘ offensive’. However, the ASA said most people would accept the tonguein-cheek humour.
The website Booking.com claimed the notoriety of having three advertisements in the top ten. Viewers were unhappy with the way its scripts constantly used the word ‘booking’ as a euphemism for the F-word. In each case, the ASA said people should understand it was a light-hearted play on words and was unlikely to encourage swearing among children.
The only complained about advert in the top ten that was actually banned was one for XLS Medical weight loss pills for women.
The TV commercial showed two apparently fit, healthy young women using the pills to lose weight so they could fit into their holiday clothes. Critics said it was ‘more like a commercial for anorexia’ and the ASA banned it for creating an ‘irresponsible approach to body image and confidence’.
A commercial for Paypal was cleared despite complaints it might have revealed the truth about Father Christmas to children.
The British Heart Foundation upset many with a commercial showing a boy sitting in a classroom talking to his father, who had died from heart disease. Viewers said an anti- smoking campaign from the Department of Health, which contained flesh and blood, was too gruesome, but the ASA ruled that while it was ‘unsettling’, it contained an important health message.
The watchdog also cleared a commercial for electronic cigarettes despite complaints that it could encourage children to use them.