Fashion retailer Mango has been called ‘irresponsible’ by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for featuring an ‘unhealthily thin’ model on one of its product listings.
The image in question featured a model standing with their arms down by their sides. The complainant believed the model appeared to be unhealthily thin and said the advert was ‘irresponsible’ for including the image.
The ASA upheld the complaint, pointing out that the model’s upper body and hips appeared to be very narrow, with gaps between her arms and body which accentuated her slender frame.
Mango did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries, leading the regulator to express concern over the retailer’s lack of response and apparent disregard for the Cap Code.
Subscribe to Marketing Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest marketing campaigns sent straight to your inbox each morning
The regulator said that the ad should not appear in its current form and asked that Mango ensured that it listed products responsibly, with a view to using imagery that did not present unhealthily thin appearances.
It is not the first time that the regulator has banned unhealthily thin models, with fellow fashion brand Warehouse also having a product listing banned for featuring an image which accentuated her “particularly pronounced” hip bone in summer of last year.
According to the ASA’s regulations brand’s must not present images that showcase models in ways that make them look as though they have an unhealthy body weight.
The ASA has been looking into its code around body image following a call to evidence in 2021, and is set to publish the outcomes in the coming months.
