Body shaming ads to be banned across all public transport in London
LONDON -- Adverts that could pressure people to "conform to an unrealistic or unhealthy body shape" or create body confidence issues will be banned across the Transport for London (TfL) network from next month, Sadiq Khan -- Mayor of London -- announced Monday.
TfL's advertising estate comprises space on the London Underground, Overground, DLR, Victoria Coach Station, trams, bus shelters, buses and also on-street advertising.
Khan has also asked for an advertising steering group to be established, so that advertising partners and stakeholders can ensure that advertising reflects "the full diversity of London", and to monitor TfL's "approach to advertising".
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The move comes after over 70,000 people signed a petition calling for the removal of an advert for Protein World, which featured a woman in a bikini with the text "Are you beach body ready". The ad -- which prompted a massive online backlash -- was considered to be body shaming.
Nobody should feel pressurised, while they travel on the Tube or bus, into unrealistic expectations surrounding their bodies
“As the father of two teenage girls, I am extremely concerned about this kind of advertising which can demean people, particularly women, and make them ashamed of their bodies. It is high time it came to an end," said Khan in a statement.
“Nobody should feel pressurised, while they travel on the Tube or bus, into unrealistic expectations surrounding their bodies and I want to send a clear message to the advertising industry about this,” Khan continued.
TfL estimates that around 12,000 advertisements appear each year on its network.
According to Graeme Craig, TfL's commercial development director, TfL's advertising is "unlike TV, online and print media".
“Our customers cannot simply switch off or turn a page if an advertisement offends or upsets them and we have a duty to ensure the copy we carry reflects that unique environment," he said.
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Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
