Ad watchdog raps Boohoo over too-sexualised images

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Feb 16, 2022

The Boohoo brand is in trouble with the UK’s advertising watchdog over “sexually suggestive” images. Boohoo is known for its ‘sexy’ imagery but the Advertising Standards Authority clearly decided images of a model in a roomy tee along with thong-style bikini bottoms were too much.

A consumer had complained that some of the poses the model struck objectified and sexualised women. The ASA called the promotion "offensive, harmful and irresponsible".

It’s not the first time the company has fallen foul of the ASA and this time around it also seemed to take exception to the fact that the very sexual images were used to sell a T-shirt.

The ASA said: “We noted that neither the partial nudity nor the bikini bottoms were relevant to the product and that the images did not show the product as it would usually be worn. For those reasons, we concluded that the ad objectified and sexualised women. It was therefore irresponsible and likely to cause serious offence.”

Boohoo had already removed the images and said it understood the issues after the ASA said it had to “ensure that future ads were prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and society”.

A number of brands have had ads or other images banned due to excessively sexual content, however, such images do continue to appear and it can be some time between their original publication and any order to remove them. The Boohoo images in this case first appeared in November.