AMERICAN APPAREL ADVERTS BANNED AFTER BEING FOUND TO BE OFFENSIVE
The UK Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), which monitors advertising across all media (including marketing on websites) has banned adverts by American Apparel after finding that they were offensive because they were exploitative and inappropriately sexualised young women.
Eight adverts on its website, and one in Crack, a free lifestyle magazine which all featured women in various states of undress, were complained of.
American Apparel defended the adverts saying that they featured real, non-airbrushed everyday people. They argued that a number of the adverts complained of were “heritage advertising” in appearing on their website and not being part of a current campaign. (As “heritage advertising” the Advertising Codes would not apply.) Finally, American Apparel said that the images used in their adverts were no more sexually natured than a large proportion of images used by other companies. They said it was important to judge what was and what wasn’t offensive by reference to the current times and the views of the majority of decent, reasonable people, not a small and puritanically minded minority.
The ASA was not persuaded by these arguments and has banned American Apparel from using again all but one of the adverts complained of. It did not agree that some of the adverts were “heritage advertising” since the adverts featured currently available products. The ASA considered that the adverts formed part of American Apparel’s current promotional strategy and the Advertising Codes therefore applied. The fact that the people used in the adverts were not professional models was not itself problematic, but it gave a voyeuristic and ‘amateurish’ quality to the images which served to heighten the impression that the adverts were exploitative of women and inappropriately sexualised young women.
The decision makes clear that even adverts on an advertiser’s own website are not immune from the Advertising Codes. All adverts in all media must be legal, decent, honest and truthful to comply with the Advertising Codes. American Apparel’s adverts fell foul of this by being offensive.
The ASA has said that the adverts should not appear again in their current form and American Apparel has been told not to use in the future similar images which are exploitative of women or inappropriately sexualise young women.
By Industry contributor, Tamar Nathan
Tamar Nathan is an Associate at City law firm Fox Williams LLP, and a member of the Fox Williams Fashion Law Group which has extensive industry knowledge. More information about the Fox Williams Fashion Law Group can be found on its dedicated fashion law website at www.fashionlaw.co.uk.
For more information on how IP rights can be used to protect businesses operating in the fashion sector please contact Tamar Nathan at [email protected].
