Controversial US retailer American Apparel has once again flouted advertising regulations with images of women in vulnerable poses "likely to cause serious offence" to visitors to its website, a watchdog has ruled.
The clothing brand, which has regularly broken advertising rules for using exploitative images of young women, posted six photos of a model in a bodysuit and thigh-high socks on a bed without her face shown, from the front showing her legs open or in a kneeling or reclining position.
Others, which carried text saying the model was a store consultant, showed her wearing only a jumper while her bottom half appeared naked, reclining on a bed with her legs in the air.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) investigated a complaint that the models appeared vulnerable and the ads were offensive because they were overtly sexual and objectified women.
Responding to the complaint, American Apparel said it "did its best" to abide by the standards of the industry as well as creating "authentic, honest and memorable images" relevant to its customer base.
The ASA noted that the first ad did not show the model's face and emphasised her groin, buttocks and breasts, although they were covered.
It said: "Although we considered it was reasonable for ads for hosiery to feature women in limited clothing, we considered the images and the model's poses were gratuitous. We considered the images were overtly sexual and that they demeaned women by emphasising the model's groin, buttocks and breasts and by not including her face."
Regarding the second ad, it said: "We considered the image to be gratuitous, particularly in an ad for knitwear. We also considered the model's facial expression appeared blank, if not unsure, and were concerned that she appeared vulnerable. We considered the image was overtly sexual."
The ASA said the ads had "a voyeuristic quality" that constituted a breach of their code.
It ruled that the ads must not appear again in their current form and told American Apparel to ensure that its future advertising contained nothing which was likely to cause serious or widespread offence.
