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Missguided told it can’t show this ‘objectifying’ Love Island ad ever again

Just ONE person complained about the ad

5 years ago

Missguided has been told off for an "overly sexualised" advert it showed during Love Island.

The ad, which featured weird sexy music, quick cuts of women in bikinis, and someone eating a strawberry, has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority after one person complained.

The single complaint said the ad, shown on ITV Hub, "objectified women".

It was upheld by the ASA after being found to be in breach of rules regarding "harm and offence" and responsible advertising.

The ad was banned from being shown again, and Missguided was warned not to use advertising in future that "objectified" women or was "likely" to cause serious offence.

The ASA said multiple shots didn't show the woman's face or the clothing being advertised.

Where faces were shown, "in many of the scenes the women looked seductively at the camera with their lips parted and their poses were sexually suggestive", said the regulator.

The scene with four women in bikinis was slammed because it "exposed a lot of the buttocks and hips of three of the women."

After opening with a woman rubbing a strawberry on her lips so nobody else could eat it, the ad showed two women in swimwear on a boat.

On-screen text said "If you plan on wearing clothes this summer…we've got you covered… kind of."

The ad also showed young women on a beach with their legs apart in "seductive" poses, a woman running her hand up her inner thigh, a group of women in thong bikinis and another woman posing in a bikini with her legs astride on a motorcycle.

Bosses of Manchester-based Missguided said that the ad's aim was to promote several items in their summer collection including swimwear and accessories.

The said It was aimed at people under 30 and they had tried to promote "a particular lifestyle" rather than just clothing.

They said the models were of "different sizes and backgrounds" and that the ad focused not only on the clothes they wore but also their faces, with a number of the camera angles shot from below to show "empowering, confident" young women.

The firm claimed that the display of skin was "relevant, necessary and unavoidable" given that the ad was promoting the summer wear collection, which included bikinis.

Missguided said imagery that may be construed as sexual – including the image of the strawberry between lips – were "merely motifs used to create the lifestyle brand."

The firm added that the audience was intended to be viewers of Love Island, which aimed to draw crowds through a show where contestants both male and female were dressed in swimwear during the day.

They claimed prevailing standards "allowed for women to be body confident whilst also remaining tasteful" and in keeping with the behaviour of the target audience.

ITV said they were surprised the ad offended someone watching Love Island, as it showed similar values, swimwear, and scenes as the show.

An ASA spokesman said: "The ad comprised numerous quick-cut scenes each lasting only a second or two and we considered some scenes were in keeping with typical ads for such products.

"However, others went further and were highly sexualised, including some that did not show any of the clothing that was being advertised or include the model's face.

"We did not therefore agree that the women in those scenes were presented as empowered, confident young women.

"We considered that the cumulative effect of the scenes meant that overall, the products had been presented in an overly-sexualised way that invited viewers to view the women as sexual objects."

He added: "We considered that some viewers who enjoyed the programme would nevertheless be seriously offended by advertising that presented women as sexual objects.

"Because the ad objectified women, we concluded that it was irresponsible and likely to cause serious offence.

"The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Missguided Ltd not to use advertising that objectified women and which was likely to cause serious offence."