Yves Saint Laurent is the latest luxury label to come under fire for one of its advertisements.
According to BBC, the ad, which appeared in Elle UK, was banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for featuring a model who appeared to be "unhealthily underweight."
In the image, a woman is seen lying on the floor, legs sprawled out and arms over her head. It was flagged by a complainant who alerted the ASA.
In its ruling, the watchdog said:
"The ASA considered that the model’s pose and the particular lighting effect in the ad drew particular focus to the model’s chest, where her rib cage was visible and appeared prominent, and to her legs, where her thighs and knees appeared a similar width, and which looked very thin, particularly in light of her positioning and the contrast between the narrowness of her legs and her platform shoes.
We therefore considered that the model appeared unhealthily underweight in the image and concluded that the ad was irresponsible."
The ASA also noted that Saint Laurent did not agree with the ruling but did not provide a detailed response. They ruled that the ad must not appear again in its current form.
Though it's clear the model is thin, it's unclear whether or not she's actually unhealthy. (Because, as you know, being thin doesn't always mean someone is malnourished.) A few commenters on Buzzfeed were quick to point this out.
Chris McLaren, a top commenter, wrote, "Has anyone medically tested the model to discover if she was unhealthy, or are we judging because we don't like how it looks?"
Another reader, Liam Tipler, added, "seems so. considering almost all long distance runners look malnourished and they are fitter and healthier than i will ever be."
The controversy comes just a year after a UK petition, urging the French label to stop using thin models in ads, was started; it garnered over 50,000 signatures. The ASA also recently banned a Miu Miu ad for being "sexually suggestive."
What do you think -- does the model in the YSL ad seem too thin? Or is the image totally fine? Let us know in the comments below.
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