Gucci was banned for featuring an unhealthily thin model

Gucci ad has been banned for featuring an "unhealthily
thin" model. The Advertising Standards Authority told the
Italian fashion brand to make sure it used responsible
images of models in its future ad campaign. Gucci ran an
online video ad featuring a number of models dancing to a
soundtrack. The final part of the ad, which ran on the
Times website in December, featured still photos of the
individual models.
The fashion company said the ad was aimed at an “older,
sophisticated” audience and that the Times website was
used as it provided an “adult and mature” readership. The
Advertising Standards Authority received a complaint that
the ad was irresponsible because the models were
unhealthily thin.
Guccio Gucci, the parent company of the fashion brand, and
the Times said that that the idea of an unhealthily thin
model was to some extent a “subjective issue” The fashion
company said that the models had “slim builds” but were
not depicted as “unhealthily thin”.
The images were shot to make sure none of the models’
bones were visible, which would accentuate thinness, and
light rather than heavy makeup was used to stop the
potential accentuation of thinness in features.
The ASA disagreed, saying that the ad irresponsibly
showed a model with a body that was disproportionate and
overly thin.
"Further, her pose elongated her torso and
accentuated her waist so that it appeared to be very
small," added the ASA. "We also considered that
her sombre facial expression and dark makeup,
particularly around her eyes, made her face look
gaunt. For those reasons, we considered that the
model leaning against the wall appeared to be
unhealthily thin in the image, and therefore
concluded that the ad was irresponsible."
The ASA told the Italian fashion company to make sure it
used responsible images of models in its future ad
campaigns.

Source: the Guardian, ASA