The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned an Alibaba ad for displaying an image of an underage girl in a bikini.
The ad, in which a young female model wears makeup and a high-leg string bikini, appeared on NewsNow’s website on 5 February and MailOnline’s website on 1 March.
On either side of the girl were two smaller images of adult female models, one wearing a bikini and one wearing a swimsuit.
The ASA received complaints from members of the general public who believed that the ad was “irresponsible” for portraying a child in a sexualised way.
The advertising watchdog condemned the retailer’s lack of response to its enquiries about the nature of the ad and expressed concern at Alibaba’s “lack of response” and “apparent disregard” for the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) code with regards to inappropriately advertising underage women.
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Both NewsNow and MailOnline claimed that the ad appeared on their websites after being served “programmatically”, via open marketplace, assuming no liability for the violation of the CAP code.
After a brief investigation, the authority ordered the online retailer to take the advertisement down.
“The model, who was looking straight at the camera, also wore makeup and posed with her head at a slight angle, pushing her hair behind her ear in a coquettish manner,” the ASA said.
“While not overtly sexual, we considered the pose was quite adult for a model who was clearly under the age of 18. We considered that the model’s pose, in conjunction with the revealing clothing and makeup she was wearing, had the effect of portraying her in a sexual way.”
“We told Alibaba Group Holding Ltd to ensure their future ads did not include images that portrayed or represented anyone who was, or seemed to be, under 18 years of age in a sexual manner.”
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