UK: Ads Banned for Promoting Breast Implants to Young Girls

Well we all know the saying “You get what you pay for” and when it comes to things like brain surgery and boob jobs you kinda don’t want to skimp. Just sayin’. I mean have we learned nothing from the woman who thought that getting $700.00 butt implants was a deal? She got a tuckus full of cement  and Fix a Flat! I am still trying to wrap my mind around that one (who does that to another human being?) anyway..

The UK’s  Advertising Standards Authority, is at it again they have banned an ad for cosmetic surgery that they feel is aimed at young girls. Some feel that the ASA has been going way to hard with the banning of advertisements like Hailee Steinfeld Prada ads (below)

However the reasons for banning their latest target might be a bit less ambiguous here is what they had to say about the ad below:

 

ASA rules ads suggested breast surgery was ‘risk free’ and were likely to be seen by young girls

Spire Healthcare’s cosmetic surgery posters have been banned by the ASA

The advertising watchdog has banned a poster campaign for cosmetic surgery that featured a woman in a skimpy top in posters designed to look like the cover of a glossy women’s magazine, after deciding it trivialised breast augmentation and would be seen by young girls.

Spire Healthcare ran the fake magazine cover in a poster campaign in outdoor locations including bus stops.

The ad appeared to be for a fictional glossy magazine called Cosmetic, with the masthead across the top of the poster and text below including “same day surgery”, “get more, pay less” and “boob jobs” written in the style of coverlines as if promoting features inside.

The ASA received 10 complaints that the ad was irresponsible because it trivialised cosmetic surgery and was unsuitable to appear as posters that could be seen by young girls.

Using the ad across bus shelters was an “untargeted, uncontrolled medium, visible to all passing the ads”, the regulator ruled.

The ASA said the image of “the woman with large breasts and a top which accentuated that”, coupled with the style of the ad and the text “conveyed the message that breast surgery was a straightforward, risk-free lifestyle decision”.

Given that the ad could easily be seen by children, Spire had not promoted its cosmetic surgery “in a sufficiently responsible manner”, the regulator added.

The ASA said the emphasis of the ad was on the speed of the procedure and its low cost, not about important consultations prior to surgery, which was “likely to be seen as trivialising breast enhancement surgery”

continue here: guardian.co.uk

Here’s the thing, I am a fan of the ASA, I think that what they are doing is commendable, they are sending a message (yes sometimes it may be a bit extreme) to advertisers that says “This is not okay, this is imagery/ message is potentially harmful and we are going to protect people from it” and it’s about time. I know that people think that this is censorship and that they, at times have been nit picky and gone overboard, but guess what, you can’t have it both ways and you can’t have it all.  You can have a little of a lot of things, but you can’t say you want to protect children and alter the female body image and not give things up. You can’t have complete freedom and be protected at the same time, that’s why there are laws, to make sure that we are all safe, and able to exercise our personal freedoms without doing harm to other or having harm done to us.  Look they may not get it right all the time, but at least they are trying, and that effort should be applauded. Eventually there will be a new standard created and hopefully it will not be misogynistic, and exploitative to women and young girls, or to anyone. So I am so Team ASA!  Thank you!