The Calvin Klein ad starring FKA Twigs has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the United Kingdom.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the advertising self-regulatory body in the United Kingdom. It is in charge of ensuring good practices in the world of advertising and preventing brands from going overboard.
This organization was already the protagonist when it banned the Adidas breasts advertisement, in which the brand advertised its new sports bras. Now it has banned Calvin Klein’s latest campaign starring FKA Twigs for “objectifying women.”
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) considers that the campaign is likely to be offensive to the public by showing the popular singer FKA Twigs semi-naked, showing part of her chest and buttocks. Complaints to the ASA alleged that the Calvin Klein advert was “overtly sexual, offensive and irresponsible” and that it objectified women’s bodies.
The campaign is still the typical image in outdoor advertising accompanied by a text that reads “Calvins or Nothing.” The brand has alleged that the campaign is very similar to those that have been running for years and that the singer had collaborated in the production of the image by approving its publication.
Despite Calvin Klein’s arguments, the ASA rules that: “The composition of the image puts the focus on the model’s body and not on the clothing advertised. The piece uses nudity and focuses more on the physical of FKA Twigs than in the clothing, to the point that it presents the model as a stereotypical sexual object. We conclude that the ad is irresponsible and likely to seriously offend.”
