Marks&Spencer Withdraws UK Advertisement After Criticism Over Model’s Thin Appearance

Marks&Spencer has had to remove an ad it ran on its online app featuring a model who has been labeled “apparently too thin” by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the independent self-regulatory body for advertising in the UK.

After receiving four complaints about the ad, the ASA upheld one of them and banned the British company’s ad on the grounds that “the model’s pose and choice of clothing caused the ad to give the impression that the model was excessively thin.“

The ad was confirmed to be in breach of the code of the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), the body responsible for drafting and updating the UK Advertising Code, which states that “marketing communications should be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and society.“

Marks&Spencer has indicated that it is committed to representing a full range of sizes

Marks&Spencer has responded to the ASA’s accusations in a statement explaining that the company “is committed to representing a full range of sizes, reflecting our inclusive selection of women’s sizes, from 8 to 24,“ but even so, “following the ASA’s instructions, we have removed this image.“

The Westminster, London-based company was founded in 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in Leeds. It currently has 1,053 stores in the United Kingdom, as well as numerous international stores in India, Turkey, Russia, Greece, Ireland and France, among others.

During the last financial year (ended March 30), Marks&Spencer had a turnover of 13.91 billion pounds, up 6.1% on the previous year. Profit after tax was 292 million pounds, 31% less than the previous year.