The retailer of primarily young women’s fashion, Nasty Gal, has come under fire for using a model that is supposedly too skinny. Specifically, the brand’s adverts have been banned from the TV by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over claims that the model appeared
“underweight”. Specifically, after the three adverts that aired in June led to the ASA receiving 22 complaints, the authoritative body banned the advert due to the UK’s Code of Broadcast Advertising on rule 1.2 which states that
“advertisement must be prepared with a sense of responsibility to the audience and to society.”
However, this story hasn’t unfolded completely on one side as Nast Gal stood by their model stating: “We have worked with the model in this ad many times and she is represented by one of the world’s leading agencies, whose key priority is the health of their models.” adding: “Her athletic build is in accordance with the NHS guidelines for a healthy adult woman.” Not only this but they released details showing that not only is she a UK size eight, but her body mass index is 18.8, which does, in fact, fall between what is classed as a healthy range.
When this information was put forward the ASA they stated that although she is “in proportion,” shots within the advert, such as when the model was lying down on a sunbed, were making her look not so.
