ASA bans Condé Nast ad for featuring ‘unhealthy’ model

An advert for Condé Nast Traveller Magazine featuring an ‘unhealthily thin’ model on a beach has been deemed ‘socially irresponsible’ and banned by the Advertising Standards Authority.

The offending ad, which appeared in Glamour magazine earlier this year, was meant to “entice readers to go online and interact with beautiful travel photography, interesting places to visit and new places to stay,” a Condé Nast spokesperson said.

However, while the ASA said the model appeared to be in proportion, it concluded that the ad made the woman look unhealthily thin – particularly her legs – and therefore was in breach of its responsible advertising code.

The UK advertising watchdog is relatively hot on its heels when it comes to calling out adverts that feature underweight or underweight-looking women, and also earlier this year proposed a ban on sexist ads in an effort to limit the negative impacts of ads that feature stereotypical gender roles – including body image, objectification, sexualisation and gender characteristics.

However, France has taken it one step further and in October made it mandatory for advertisers to declare whether an image has been Photoshopped. Failing to do so from now on will result in a fine of at least €37,500 (£33,000) or 30% of the cost of creating the ad.

According to the French health ministry, around 600,000 teenagers and young adults in France have an eating disorder – and retouching images to change body shape and appearance is now being treated as a public health issue.

The former health minister, Marisol Touraine, who introduced the legislation in May, said it was intended “to avoid promoting inaccessible ideals of beauty and to prevent anorexia among young people.”

“Exposing young people to normative and unrealistic images of bodies leads to a sense of self-depreciation and poor self-esteem that can impact health-related behaviour,” Touraine said.