The Advertising Standards Authority, UK advertising watch dog has reacted to a complaint about offensive sexual content of American Apparel’s latest ad campaign. The ad campaign depicting a young partially clothed girl in fleece has been banned. Apparently the 23 year old model seems to be under 16 and candid images were suggestive of sexualizing a vulnerable ‘child’.
The decision to ban an ad that doesn’t seem all that revealing seems a bit weird. That too in an age where ads are much more revealing and children start aping adults much before their age thanks to the online and television content. The generation next is going to be more fashion conscious and may be that’s what the ad wanted to reveal but unfortunately it ended up revealing much more.
Moreover the ad appeared in Vice magazine which targets readers in the age group of 18 – 34 year old, so it really did not target under age children. Maybe next time American Apparel should rope in a model who looks her age and not younger. Of course the whole controversy is going to give American Apparel anti-publicity which will definitely create more buzz.
Via Guardian
Shouldn’t the discussion end once it’s determined that the model isn’t actually underage?? It’s shocking that an ad could be banned like this in a free country.