Complaints were received by the ASA in respect of three Calvin Klein posters published in April 2023.
In one poster, singer FKA Twigs wore a denim shirt. Some parts of her buttocks and breasts were visible. The other two posters featured Kendall Jenner – in one instance, she appeared topless with her hands covering her chest, and in the other, she was shown pulling her jeans down past her hips to show her underwear. All three posters were captioned “Calvins or nothing”.
The ASA investigated the advertisements and concluded that the first poster was in breach of the CAP Code – it was found to objectify women and was therefore irresponsible and likely to cause harm and offence. In addition, the advertisement was deemed inappropriate for general display in an untargeted medium, due to its overt sexual nature.
The ASA did not uphold the complaints for the other two posters. This was on the basis that the advertisements were not objectifying and, unlike in the first poster, the main focus was considered to be on the clothing being advertised (and not the model’s nude body). In particular, the third poster was an advertisement for lingerie, and the ASA considered that the degree of nudity shown would not be unexpected for an advertisement of this type. Although it was appropriate for there to be a placement restriction for the third poster to limit its level of exposure to children, Calvin Klein had already applied the appropriate restrictions to the image.
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