An advertisement for Diesel featuring Katie Price has been banned for being irresponsible and likely to cause serious offence by objectifying women.
The ad, which appeared on The Guardian’s website in March, featured Price wearing a bikini and holding a handbag.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 13 complaints that the ad objectified women and featured a model who appeared to be unhealthily thin.
Diesel said the ad was part of a campaign called ‘The Houseguests’, which was designed to challenge stereotypes and support diversity and inclusion by reflecting a wide range of body types.
The brand said Price is 46 years old and has a body type that is not usually included in high fashion campaigns, explaining that the average age for editorial models is between 16 and 23.
Diesel believed the ad was compliant with advertising rules but removed it from The Guardian.
Diesel believed the image was a “celebration of Ms Price’s sexuality and empowerment and was not objectifying, degrading or sexualising”, and “showed Ms Price clearly in control in an active and dynamic pose where she proudly showed off her body and the handbag”.
Diesel added that Price was “well-known for her exaggerated appearance and larger-than-life personality and her large lips and breasts formed part of her curated public image”, and this “exaggerated, eccentric and altered appearance” formed part of the creativity of the campaign.
Finally, Diesel said although Price was slender, she had excellent muscle tone and was not unhealthily underweight.
The Guardian said it received a complaint directly about the ad on April 4 and blocked it from appearing again because it did not consider it complied with their policies.
Partly upholding the complaints, the ASA said the bikini only partially covered Price’s breasts, and it considered the positioning of the handbag, in front of her stomach with the handle framing her chest, drew viewers’ attention to, and emphasised, that part of her body.
The ASA said: “While we acknowledged that Ms Price was shown in a confident and self-assured pose and in control, we considered that because of the positioning of the handbag, which had the effect of emphasising and drawing attention to her breasts, the ad sexualised her in a way that objectified her.
“We therefore considered the ad was likely to cause serious offence, was irresponsible and breached the Code.”
The ASA did not uphold complaints about Price appearing to be unhealthily thin, and concluded that the ad was not irresponsible on that basis.
The watchdog ruled that the ad must not appear again, adding: “We told Diesel to ensure their future ads were socially responsible and did not cause serious or widespread offence.”
