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Adidas ads banned in UK for showing bare breasts

2022-05-12T21:49:08.693Z


Adidas adverts showing grids of nude breast photos were banned in the UK by the Advertising Standards Authority.


This is the prohibited advertising of Adidas 1:06

London (CNN Business) --

Adidas ads featuring photo grids of bare breasts have been banned in the UK by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).


The clothing company's promotional material for its sports bras, published in February, featured a grid of photos of nude female breasts.

The images, which appeared in a tweet and on two posters, were intended to highlight body diversity and Adidas' effort to cater to all shapes and sizes.

The ASA said it had received 24 complaints about the ads.

Some of the complaints considered that the use of nudity was unjustified, objectifying women by sexualizing them and reducing them to body parts, according to the ASA ruling, published online on Wednesday.

Others questioned whether the ads were appropriate for display in places where they might be viewed by minors.

The authority found both complaints to be substantiated and ordered that the ads not appear again in the modes described in the complaints, the authority said.

advertising

The ASA said it "recognized that the intent of the advertisements was to show that women's breasts differed in shape and size, which was relevant to the sports bras being advertised."

The authority said it did not believe the way the women were portrayed was sexually explicit or objectified.

But she added: "We felt that the depiction of bare breasts could be seen as explicit nudity. We noted that breasts were the focus of the ads, with less emphasis being placed on bras, which were only referenced in the accompanying text.

The ASA added: "Because the ads contained explicit nudity, we felt they needed to be carefully targeted to avoid offending viewers."

Adidas defended the campaign.

In a statement to CNN Business on Thursday, Adidas said: "The gallery was designed to showcase how diverse breasts are, featuring different shapes and sizes that highlight why custom support is paramount."

"It is important to note that the ASA's decision was related to the use of this creative material in a non-targeted manner and not about the material itself and the message, which we proudly support."

  • Adidas tweets a mosaic of bare breasts to promote its new sports bra

Controversial Ads Divide Opinion

The Adidas campaign went viral in February.

The company posted the announcement on its Twitter page with a link to the bra collection.

The ad's slogan was: #SupportIsEverything (support is everything).

"We believe that women's breasts of all shapes and sizes deserve support and comfort," Adidas said in the campaign.

"That's why our new range of sports bras contains 43 styles, so everyone can find the one that suits them best."

Adidas also put up a poster showing the same cutaway images of 62 women's bare breasts and stating, "The reasons why we didn't just make a new sports bra."

Another poster featured the same text and cropped images of 64 women, but their nipples were blurred.

Both women and men on Twitter weighed in on Adidas' marketing strategy, with decidedly mixed reactions.

Some Twitter users, mostly female consumers, said they would have preferred to see the bras instead of the breasts.

Others said the ad was inappropriate, or that it caught them off guard and confused them.

And some users said it was bold and applauded Adidas for it.

-- Parija Kavilanz contributed to this report.

Adidas

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2022-05-12

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