Online fashion retailer PrettyLittleThing has had to pull a jeans advert from their website following complaints it sexually objectified women.
The clothing advert was for their L30 Mid Wash Mom Jeans that cost £25 a pair and it was banned after it was found to be "irresponsible" and "likely to cause serious offence".
The Manchester Evening News reports the fashion house's website featured a series of images that showed a topless model wearing nothing but the jeans. In one image, the model had her arms crossed over her bare chest and the front of the jeans unzipped to show her underwear, while the second photo cut off her head and shoulders.
The advert - which featured on the retailer's website back in April - was pulled after The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) upheld a complaint that it sexually objectified women and was offensive.
PrettyLittleThing has since been told by The ASA to ensure future ads "were prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society and that they did not cause serious or widespread offence by objectifying women".
The watchdog said in the ruling: "We noted that the first image showed the model with no top on, and her arms crossed to cover her breasts. We considered that the model was portrayed as confident and in a neutral pose. However, she was completely topless which was not relevant to the product being advertised and caused viewers to focus on the woman's breasts.
"We considered that the ad was likely to have the effect of objectifying the woman by using her physical features to draw attention to the jeans in a way that was not pertinent to the product.
"We noted that in the second image the woman was also shown with no top on, and one arm covered her partially exposed breasts. Again, because she was topless it caused the viewer’s attention to be drawn to her bare chest, which was unnecessary in an ad for jeans.
"Further to that, the photo of the woman was cut just below her shoulders, thereby displaying her exposed top, but not her face. The headless image, in conjunction with her bare torso, removed the woman’s individuality and objectified her. For those reasons, we concluded that the images objectified the woman. They were therefore irresponsible and likely to cause serious offence."
A separate complaint against PrettyLittleThing for 'overly sexualising and objectifying women' in relation to clothing ads was upheld by the ASA in February, 2020.
In response PrettyLittleThing, based on Dale Street, said it strived to use inclusive, body positive imagery and communication. They said they took body positivity and freedom of expression 'very seriously' and aimed to empower their customers to increase their self-esteem.
They said ads for women's jeans had historically included images of models with nothing on their top and they had been widely accepted as tasteful and inoffensive. Bosses added they did not believe the image objectified women but 'appreciated the importance of the issue raised' and removed the images as a result.
The firm's full response read: "PrettyLittleThing (PLT) said that they strived to use inclusive, body positive imagery and communication. They said that they took body positivity and freedom of expression very seriously and aimed to empower their customers to increase their self-esteem.
"PLT explained that ads for women’s jeans had historically included images of models with nothing on their top and they had been widely accepted as tasteful and inoffensive. They said that their models and the way they shot their clothing embraced the diversity of women in society and their customer base, whilst also supporting empowerment and freedom of expression. Therefore, they considered that the images in the product listing conformed with this approach and in doing so, prevailing standards, rather than objectifying women.
"PLT said while they did not believe the image objectified women they appreciated the importance of the issue raised and therefore had agreed to remove the images from their website."
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond. Sign up to our daily newsletter here .
READ NEXT:
