YSL Ad Banned Over 'Unhealthily Thin' Model

An advert for Yves Saint Laurent featuring a model who looks malnourished, with a visible rib cage and stick-thin legs, has been banned.

The advert features a black and white photo of a woman, described by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) as "unhealthily underweight", wearing a short black dress lying on the floor with her eyes closed.

It appeared in Elle UK magazine which led to a reader calling it irresponsible for using a model who appeared to be unhealthily thin.

The ASA said YSL "indicated that they did not agree with the complainant's view that the model was unhealthily thin" but did not provide a detailed response.

Elle UK told the watchdog it had no comment to make on the complaint.

The ASA said the model's pose and the lighting drew particular focus to her chest, where her rib cage was visible and appeared prominent, and to her legs, where her thighs and knees appeared a similar width.

It said: "We therefore considered that the model appeared unhealthily underweight in the image and concluded that the ad was irresponsible."

It ruled that the ad must not appear again in its current form, adding: "We told the advertisers to ensure that the images in their ads were prepared responsibly."

YSL declined to comment on the ruling.

The ban comes as NHS figures show that the number of teenagers being admitted to hospital with eating disorders has doubled in three years.

Earlier this year, a campaign for the YSL perfume Black Opium, starring Edie Campbell, was cleared by the ASA following complaints that it glamorised and trivialised drug use and addiction.