Three Nasty Gal ads banned by watchdog

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Oct 10, 2018

Three TV ads for online womenswear brand Nasty Gal have been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for featuring a model that, in specific scenes, appeared “unhealthily underweight”.

The watchdog said it received 22 complaints of people who believed the ads were socially irresponsible.

The three adverts, aired in June 2018, showed a model posing in various outfits, including swimwear, a dress and a tank top with a skirt while playing tennis and golf.

Nasty Gal said the model was a UK size eight and that her body mass index (BMI) was within the healthy range for an adult woman. However, the ASA considered that the ads showed her in poses which drew attention to her slimness, such as lying on a sun lounger stretching her arms and spraying mist on herself.

“We considered that the model appeared unhealthily underweight in those scenes and concluded that the ads were therefore irresponsible,” said the ASA in its ruling.

The ban prevents Nasty Gal from broadcasting the ads again in their current form.

The British regulator has also previously banned ads for Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Motel Rocks for showing models which were deemed unhealthily thin. It also complained about a “sexualised” Jack Wills advertisement for being inappropriate for young people and banned a TV ad for Ghd after considering it could offend Christians.