Gucci advert banned for showing 'unhealthily thin' model
LONDON -- A Gucci advert has been banned by Britain's advertising watchdog for featuring a model who appeared to be "unhealthily thin" and "gaunt".
A video for the Italian fashion house appeared on thetimes.co.uk, featuring several models dancing to a soundtrack and several still photos of individual models. An image of a model leaning with her back to a wall was branded "irresponsible" by critics of the ad.
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Gucci said the advert portraying a "dance party" was aimed at "an older, sophisticated audience," citing Times readers as the ad's target audience.
According to the Advertising Standards Authority's report, Gucci believed "it was, to some extent, a subjective issue as to whether a model looked unhealthily thin."
The ASA stated in its report that Gucci argued that "nowhere in the ads were any models’ “bones” visible, their makeup was natural rather than heavy [...], lighting was uniform and warm to ensure there were no hollows caused by shadows and their clothes were not revealing."
The Times agreed with Gucci that whether or not models were unhealthily thin was a "subjective matter," the report said.
The ASA ruled the model's torso and arms "appeared to be out of proportion with her head and lower body".
"Her pose elongated her torso and accentuated her waist so that it appeared to be very small. We also considered that her sombre facial expression and dark make up, particularly around her eyes, made her face look gaunt," read the ASA's report.
As a result, the model leaning against the wall was deemed "unhealthily thin" and "irresponsible" by the ASA.
The ASA ruled that the advert must not appear again in its current form, and told Gucci to ensure the images featured in its ads were "prepared responsibly".
Gucci did not immediately respond to Mashable's request for comment.
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Topics Health Advertising
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.
