Fashion Ad Banned Because Camera Angle Made Model Look Too Thin

This photo has been banned by an ad regulator.

A fashion ad has been banned because the camera angle and the model’s pose in the photo made her look too thin.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the U.K. banned a photo used by fashion brand Next to advertise a pair of denim leggings.

The image showed the model sitting on a wooden block, with one leg bent and one leg outstretched towards the camera. The photo was used in a product listing for denim leggings on Next’s website.

The ad regulator says the photo is “irresponsible” and that the retailer deliberately used camera angles and the model’s pose to emphasize the thinness of her legs.

The photo listing for the denim legging on Next’s website.

The ASA investigated the ad after receiving a complaint that the model appeared “unhealthily thin” in the photo. In its investigation, the regulator acknowledged that the model’s face did not appear to be gaunt and her arms, while slim, did not display any protruding bones in the image.

However, the ASA says that the model’s left leg was bent at a right angle, with her thigh appearing to be the same width as her lower leg, and the sharpness of the angle drawing attention to her knee, which was prominent underneath the tight-fitting leggings. The shot appeared to have been taken from a lower angle, which emphasized the model’s already tall physique and further emphasized the slimness of her legs.

Furthermore, the regulator says the pointed shape of her shoes, as well as their positioning, added to the impression of the model’s elongated legs, which accentuated their slimness.

According to the ASA, the model did not appear unhealthily thin in other images in the same product listing on Next’s website. But in this particular photo, the different camera angle used “had a visible impact in the appearance of the model’s body.” As a result, the regulator says Next breached the code for social responsibility with the photo, and the ad was banned.

“Because the pose, camera angle and styling in the ad investigated strongly emphasized the slimness of the model’s legs, we considered that the ad gave the impression that the model was unhealthily thin,” the ASA says in its ruling.

“We concluded that the ad was irresponsible. The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Next to ensure that the images in their ads were prepared responsibly and did not portray models as being unhealthily thin.”

Next tells the BBC that it disagrees with the regulator’s decision and says that the model, while slim, had a “healthy and toned physique.” The retailer says the model’s pose was chosen “specifically to display the leggings’ fit on both straight and bent legs.”

While Next did not use digital retouching to alter the model’s appearance, the retailer admits to digitally altering the image of the leggings to make them look longer to “maintain focus on the product while avoiding any exaggeration of her body shape.”