Protests fail to black out Ann Summers lingerie TV ad

A TV ad for sex toy and lingerie retailer Ann Summers, featuring former Love Island star Tasha Ghouri and five backing dancers, has been given the all-clear despite a raft of complaints claiming the ad sexualised and objectified women.

The ad, which ran in January, opened with text stating “Ann Summers presents” followed by a series of dance routines in which Ghouri was seen wearing several lingerie outfits, including suspender belts and thong-style knickers. The other dancers were wearing pink bodysuits and legwarmers with fluffy tails, collars and masks partially covering their faces and bunny ears.

The ad also featured some close-up images of the women while they danced, at times showing Ghouri’s partially exposed bottom. The final scene showed Ghouri pointing at the camera, before blowing a kiss and winking, and all the dancers whooping and cheering together at the end. On-screen text stated “Make you power move Valentine’s 2023” and “Ann Summers online instore events”. A song in the background featured the lyrics “better make your move” and “touch me one more time”.

The ad was cleared by Clearcast with an ‘ex-kids’ scheduling restriction, which meant that it should not be shown in or around programmes made for, specifically targeted at or likely to appeal to children.

However, the Advertising Standards Authority received 19 complaints, with some who believed the ad sexualised and objectified women, challenging whether it was irresponsible, harmful and offensive.

Others believed the ad should not be broadcast during times when children were likely to be watching, and challenged whether the scheduling restriction was sufficient.

In response, Ann Summers said it believed the ad was not socially irresponsible and that it showed happy, empowered women having fun in a non-sexual way.

The firm added that the most revealing shot of Ghouri’s bottom in the ad was fleeting and that it was not shown in a sexualised manner. It maintained it was not socially irresponsible for children to see bottoms because they regularly saw them and it was very unlikely that the non-sexual content of the ad could distress children, cause them harm, or be considered unsuitable for them.

The company said that it had not received a single complaints about the ad, having asked broadcasters to target the ad at women aged 18 to 44 years, and it was not shown during programmes that would not be likely to appeal to children.

Meanwhile, Clearcast did not believe the ad objectified or sexualised women. insisting it celebrated women of all body types.

The organisation argued that the purpose of the ad, emphasised by the slogan “make your power move”, was to empower women to act and wear whatever they liked, particularly on and around Valentine’s Day. It highlighted how women should be free to wear whatever lingerie they liked without being sexualised by men.

In its ruling published today, the ASA accepted that, as the ad was for women’s lingerie, it was understandable that it would feature models wearing lingerie. The backing dancers were all wearing bodysuits which resembled ballet leotards. They were dancing in high heels, but also wore leg warmers, an item typically worn by dancers.

Although they were dressed in a style reminiscent of Playboy bunnies, including cuffs, collars, fluffy tails and masks with bunny ears (which partially obscured their faces), it considered they were not presented in an overly sexual way.

The watchdog also considered the style of dancing in the ad was light-hearted and the dance moves were non-sexual and the women appeared to be having fun on their own terms, and that the overall impression was one of female empowerment.

Meanwhile, the ASA said it did not consider the nudity to be gratuitous, nor that the scenes which were fleeting, were inappropriate in the context of an ad promoting lingerie. It therefore considered that the ‘ex-kids’ scheduling restriction was sufficient.

Clearing the ad on both counts, the watchdog ruled that no further action was required.