City salon reported to advertising standards
Tanning shop in hot water over shop front signage
A Perth City Centre Councillor has stepped up his war on “offensive” images at a tanning salon.
The Perthshire Advertiser reported in February that Councillor Peter Barratt has received complaints about images of a bikini-clad model “in a number of sexualised poses” at the Sun Shack on Princes Street.
Cllr Barrett reported the signs to Perth planning enforcement officers and he says he has now received information that suggests the images are “illegal”.
Cllr Barrett, who as communities convenor has lead responsibility for equalities, said he was campaigning for the removal of the “arched back, cleavage-clutching, bottom display” advertising from the shop frontage.
Sun Shack was given a deadline of the end of March to apply for planning permission or remove the window advertisements.
The deadline has passed, with the shop keeping the main shop window as it was, with a bikini-topped woman cupping her five-foot-across breasts.
The second window of the former kitchen showroom premises has a back view of the same model.
Cllr Barrett is pressing for planning enforcement officers to escalate their response.
He said: “The lack of action and the failure to respond by Sun Shack to is disappointing. The right thing for them to do is to remove the window advertisements without further delay.”
Councillor Barrett has taken the matter further by complaining to the Advertising Standards Authority. He has written to the ASA, making a formal complaint that the window adverts objectify women in sexualised poses.
Cllr Barrett said: “Whilst the ads do not contain any nudity, they are overtly sexual, presenting women as sexual objects in poses focussing attention on the woman’s bottom and breasts.
“If Sun Shack do not understand that sexualisation in their advertisement can cause serious and widespread offence, I hope that the ASA will hammer home the message and ensure the removal of the displays.” The Sun Shack is hard to miss Cllr Peter Barrett