The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has been forced into an embarrassing U-turn this week over its controversial decision to censor a Calvin Klein poster featuring musician FKA Twigs on the grounds of ‘objectifying women.’
The regulator’s original decision to ban the out-of-home poster, which depicted a black-and-white image of FKA Twigs in a Calvin Klein shirt wrapped across the left side of her body and partially revealing her right breast and right buttock, was met with derision online.
The singer-songwriter herself spearheaded the complaints, accusing the ASA of ‘double standards’ in a furious Instagram post which read: “I do not see the ‘stereotypical sexual object’ that they have labelled me. I see a beautiful, strong woman of colour whose incredible body has overcome more pain than you can imagine.”
“In light of reviewing other campaigns, past and current of this nature, I can’t help but feel there are some double standards here.”
Whilst the ASA has elected to uphold its decision to ban the poster due to its “overtly sexual (though not sexually explicit)” content, it has chosen to tweak the wording within its ruling.
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In an apologetic statement, the regulator was at pains to point out that it believes FKA Twigs was in fact presented as “confident and in control” and had therefore not “been presented as a stereotypical sexual object.”
The ASA’s “unease” over the original wording of its ruling will no doubt have had something to do with two similar ads featuring a scantily-clad Kendall Jenner which were not banned, and the negative press associated with the online backlash.
Confirming the revised ruling – the statement read: “We have maintained our decision that the overtly sexual image of FKA Twigs was not suitable for display in an untargeted medium, a poster, where anyone could see it.
“In that regard, we thought it was materially different to the mildly sexual and sexually suggestive, but not overtly sexual, images of Kendall Jenner in the other two posters. So, the ban still applies for that reason.”
Interestingly, the regulator also addressed claims of double standards over allowing a Calvin Klein ad featuring actor Jeremy Allen White in nothing but a pair of (very tiny) white briefs.
It said that it hadn’t received any actionable complaints it could pursue as the complaints weren’t based on media coverage or ads that appeared in the UK. It did add, however, that it would not have banned the spot or its associated assets had the complaints been applicable.
In its statement, the ASA was also careful to clarify that the “race or identity of the women was not relevant to and did not form part of our rulings, either original or revised”, adding “what’s relevant are the differences between the images, with the FKA Twigs image being overtly sexual in an untargeted poster and the Kendal Jenner images materially less so.”
