ASA bans 'offensive' Jaded London 'show of strength' ad

Fashion retailer Jaded London has been whacked by the ad watchdog over two Instagram posts promoting a shoe brand that featured two separate shots of a model – one completely starkers; the other in a faux fur coat – despite claims the ads were designed to “celebrate the strength of the female form”.

The first image featured a nude woman wearing a motorbike helmet and boots. She was placed between two motorbike wheels and was holding the front wheel, while her feet were on the back wheel.

The second image featured a woman wearing a motorbike helmet, boots and a faux fur coat that was raised to expose her bottom. She was placed between two motorbike wheels and was holding the front wheel, while her feet were on the back wheel.

A caption on the post stated: “Introducing our newest collaboration with @newrock. 4 styles. Hand crafted in Spain. Launching 3rd October. Stay tuned.”

But one consumer, who believed that the images objectified and sexualised women, rifled off a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority and challenged whether the ad was offensive and promoted a harmful gender stereotype.

In its defence, Jaded London said it believed that the ad did not objectify or sexualise women. It insisted the purpose of the ad was to “celebrate the strength of the female form”, adding that it had received positive feedback from its customers, who it believed were predominately female. It said it wanted to ensure their customers felt respected.

However, the ASA was not impressed, citing the CAP Code, which states ads must be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society, must not cause serious or widespread offence and must not include gender stereotypes that were likely to cause harm.

The watchdog said the way the images were created gave the impression that the model formed the main component of a bike. The ASA considered this suggested they should be viewed as parts of machinery and as objects, rather than as people. Both women were wearing motorbike helmets, meaning their faces were not visible. It considered obscuring the women’s faces made their bodies the focus of the ad and further presented them as objects.

The ASA ruling stated: “The women’s bodies were positioned so their buttocks were in the place of the motorbike seat and both women’s legs were bent at the knees. That had the effect of raising their buttocks in a manner which would have been understood as being sexually suggestive, as well as being a central focus of the ad.

“The woman’s body in the first image was entirely naked, meaning her breasts and buttocks were exposed, which added to that sexual impression. The woman in the second image was wearing a faux fur coat. However, the coat was raised, which exposed both her legs and her buttocks and made them the focus of the image.

“We acknowledged that the raised coat could have been interpreted as a reference to a motorbike moving at speed as the wind blew the coat upwards. However, we considered exposing her buttocks in that manner gave the image a voyeuristic feel. We considered that by presenting the women as motorbikes, in conjunction with the nudity and sexually suggestive position in which their bodies were posed, the images featured the harmful gender stereotype that women were sexual objects.”

The watchdog added that, although the ad promoted a shoe brand, it considered the women’s bodies were the focus of the images, not the boots, and the nudity was not relevant to the products.

For those reasons, the ASA considered that the ad objectified the women depicted and gave the impression that their bodies were sexual objects, concluding that the ad included a harmful gender stereotype and was likely to cause serious offence.

Banning the ad must from appearing again in its current form, the ASA warned Jaded London to ensure that future ads were socially responsible and did not cause serious offence, including by featuring a harmful gender stereotype by objectifying or sexualising women.