Calvin Klein FKA Twigs poster banned as being “likely to cause serious offence” by objectifying women

nme.com:

FKA Twigs has been banned, with the ruling claiming it is “likely to cause serious offence” by objectifying women.First released in Spring 2023, the poster saw the artist posing with a denim shirt draping over one shoulder – leaving the side of her buttocks and half of one break exposed.

It came with the tagline “Calvins or nothing”.However, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) went on to receive two complaints about the campaign image, each arguing that the portrayal of Twigs was “overly sexualised” and caused offence by objectifying women.

These were then upheld by the ASA.Commenting on the campaign photo and follow-up complaints, they made a statement reading (via The Times): “We considered the image’s composition placed viewers’ focus on the model’s body rather than on the clothing being advertised,” the ruling said. “The ad used nudity and centred on FKA Twigs physical features rather than the clothing, to the extent that it presented her as a stereotypical sexual object.”The statement also added that the nudity involved “gave the image an overall sexual overture”, and ruled that it was not suitable for display in an untargeted manner.Adding on, they claimed that the advert was “irresponsible” and “likely to cause serious offence”.

Calvin Klein have also been told not to run the image again.Responding to the controversy surrounding the image when the complaints arose, Calvin Klein argued that the advert showed FKA Twigs being “empowered” rather than objectified.