America Apparel Ads Banned By Watchdog

The advertising watchdog has banned a series of advertisements by clothing chain American Apparel after ruling that they used "exploitative" images of women likely to cause "serious and widespread offence".

Eight ads on the fashion retailer's website and in a free magazine published in October showed women modelling knickers, socks and sweaters in various poses that exposed their breasts or buttocks.

One of the online adverts showed a woman arching her back towards the camera with her breasts exposed, while others showed models with their legs apart while on a bed.

Following a complaint that the images were "pornographic" and "exploitative", the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) ruled that all but one advert must not appear again.

The watchdog said the nature of the women's poses meant their breasts and buttocks were the focal points rather than the products.

ASA added: "We considered that in the particular context of images which featured nudity and sexually provocative poses, there was a voyeuristic and 'amateurish' quality to the images which served to heighten the impression that the ads were exploitative of women and inappropriately sexualised young women."

But American Apparel rejected the complaint, saying the images featured "real, non-airbrushed, everyday people", and that the vast majority of them were not professional models.

The clothing chain said the images were the sort that people regularly shared with their friends on social networks and which normal people could relate to, suggesting the complainant was representative of a puritanically-minded minority.

The fashion retailer added the women who featured in the images were clearly in their 20s, and emphasised they were "happy, relaxed and confident in expression and pose" and were not portrayed in a vulnerable, negative or exploitative manner.

In a separate ruling, the ASA rejected three complaints that a digital poster of David Beckham wearing only a pair of trunk briefs for clothing retailer H&M was offensive and irresponsible.

Defending the ad, H&M said it was part of a campaign to launch David Beckham Bodywear for H&M and aimed to show the function and fit of the garment.

The ASA noted that there was no explicit nudity in the image and added that Beckham's poses and facial expressions were "mildly sexual at most".

It ruled: "While we acknowledged that some viewers might consider the images distasteful, we concluded the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence."