Ad description
A product listing for clothing and lifestyle shop Olanstar, which appeared on www.amazon.co.uk, seen on 14 November 2018. Text at the top of the ad stated "Olanstar School Girl Costume Halloween Cosplay Uniform Classic Pleated Mini Skirt with Bow-knot". Beneath that a sub-heading stated "See more on the Sex and Sensuality store". The ad included seven photos of a female model wearing a school girl costume. The model was shown in a variety of poses which included her knelt on both knees, to laying on her back, to bending over with the camera pointed from behind her. Description of the item further down the page stated "Pure student dress up, this sexy schoolgirl outfit lights your passion at night, inspires both infinite imagination of youth".
Issue
The complainant challenged whether the ad breached the Code by portraying someone who appeared to be under 18 years of age in a sexual way.
Response
Olanstar Technology Co Ltd t/a Olanstar did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.
Assessment
Upheld
The ASA was concerned by Olanstar’s lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 1.7 Any unreasonable delay in responding to the ASA's enquiries will normally be considered a breach of the Code. (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to provide a substantive response to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.
We considered that all of the photos in the ad were to some extent sexual in nature. In particular, we noted that one photo, in which the model was photographed from above while she was lying down with her legs crossed from right to left, revealed her bare inner thigh; another photo showed the model kneeling barefoot on a sofa and biting her finger alongside the caption “SEXY APPEAL”. All other photos showed the model either on her knees or bent over which we considered drew attention to her body in a sexually suggestive manner.
The advertiser had not responded to the complaint and we therefore did not have any information about whether the model was aged 18 years or over. However, we considered that the model seemed petite, with smooth skin and very little make-up which made her appear to be under the age of 18.
For those reasons we considered that the ad depicted a person who appeared to be under the age of 18 in a sexual way and was therefore in breach of the Code.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 4.8 (Harm & Offence).
Action
The ad must not appear in its current form. We told Olanstar Technology Co Ltd t/a Olanstar to ensure future ads did not include images that portrayed or represented anyone who was, or seemed to be, under 18 in a sexual manner. We referred the matter to the CAP Compliance team.
