LONDON: Two advertisements by the fashion brand Zara have been banned for allegedly promoting an unhealthily thin body type. The action was taken by the UK-based advertising regulatory agency, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The authority deemed the images of the models used in the ads to be “irresponsible.”
The agency found that the use of shadows and a pulled-back bun hairstyle in one of the ads made the model appear excessively thin. In another ad, a picture of a model wearing a shirt with her collarbones prominently protruding was also cited by the agency as promoting an unhealthy body type. The ban was imposed after the lighting and editing techniques used in the photos were found to be contributing factors.
The ASA advised Zara to act more responsibly when shooting its advertisements. The agency had also investigated two other Zara ads but found no violations of advertising standards in those cases.
In its defense, Zara stated that no unauthorized editing had been done on the banned images, and only minor lighting and coloring adjustments were used. The brand claimed to strictly follow the recommendations of the ‘Healthy Future Report,’ a UK Model Health Inquiry from 2007, when creating its advertisements. Zara also asserted that models are chosen based on medical certificates and that the models in the banned photos were certified as healthy. Following the ban, the images were removed from Zara’s website and application.
