ASA partially reverses ruling on Calvin Klein underwear ad featuring FKA Twigs

The Advertising Standards Authority (the "ASA") has partially reversed its ruling from January in which it banned a poster advertising Calvin Klein which featured singer and songwriter FKA Twigs (the "FKA Twigs Poster").

The FKA Twigs Poster was deemed offensive and irresponsible on the basis that it objectified women and presented the singer as a "stereotypical sexual object". The original ruling had attracted criticism from the wider public and the singer herself, who claimed "not [to] see the stereotypical sexual object that they have labelled me". The original ruling also prompted accusations of double standards from the ASA when compared to their treatment of similar Calvin Klein campaigns featuring model and media personality Kendall Jenner and actor Jeremy Allen White. The ASA later reversed its decision, finding the FKA Twigs Poster not offensive and irresponsible. However, the ASA maintained that the FKA Twigs Poster is inappropriate for display in an untargeted medium. The ASA has previously come under public criticism for similar rulings which banned ads on the basis that they objectify or sexualise women.

Relevant CAP Code Rules

The ASA's ruling assessed whether three Calvin Klein posters were offensive and irresponsible, because they objectified women, and were inappropriate for display in an untargeted medium. The FKA Twigs Poster featured FKA Twigs wearing an unbuttoned denim shirt, partly exposing the side of her breast and bottom. The other two featured Kendall Jenner: in the first topless, with her arms folded across her chest, and in the other on her back, wearing underwear and holding a pair of jeans part way up her thighs. The ASA investigated the posters under rules 1.3 (Social Responsibility) and 4.1 (Harm and offence) of the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (the "CAP Code").

The rules respectively provide that "marketing communications must be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society" and are "not [to] contain anything that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence". The rules clearly state that "the fact a product is offensive to some people is not grounds for finding a marketing communication in breach of the Code".

The sexual character of the Calvin Klein ad campaign and the two complaints received by the ASA prompted the investigation. Calvin Klein had the burden of proving that their ad campaign was not likely to cause widespread offence.

The original ASA ruling

In the original ruling published on 10 January 2024, the ASA banned the FKA Twigs Poster from appearing in its current form. The ASA deemed the FKA Twigs Poster likely to be seen as irresponsible and to cause serious offence. The ASA justified its decision by stating that the FKA Twigs Poster "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". Even after criticism by the singer, an ASA spokesperson initially stood by the ruling and defended the decision on the ground that "the ad broke the rules by irresponsibly objectifying a woman and being targeted inappropriately".

The revised ASA ruling

In the revised ruling, the ASA found the Calvin Klein ad campaign not in breach of the relevant rules and partially reversed their original findings. The ASA found the Calvin Klein ad campaign unlikely to be seen as irresponsible or likely to cause serious or widespread offence on the basis of sexual objectification. The ASA however upheld its finding that the FKA Twigs Poster was inappropriate for display in an untargeted medium, in breach of rule 1.3 of the CAP Code.

1. Whether the ads were offensive and irresponsible, because they objectified women

Calvin Klein argued that the posters were similar to ads that they had published in the UK for years. They argued that the images depicted "two confident and empowered women who had chosen to identify with the Calvin Klein brand" rather than depicting them as "stereotypical sexual objects". They also highlighted the fact that a degree of nudity should be expected in ads for underwear.

The ASA assessed the content of each poster individually and found that while the posters contained images of women that were sexualised to a degree, they were unlikely to be seen as irresponsible or cause serious or widespread offence on the basis of sexual objectification. On the FKA Twigs Poster, the ASA concluded that while the viewer's attention was drawn to the model's body, the FKA Twigs Poster presented a woman "confident and in control" and was not sexually explicit.

The ASA stated that their decision to reverse the original finding was not caused by the criticism received but rather by an unease about the wording used to explain their rationale, as well as an inconsistency in treatment of the three posters.

2. Whether the ads were inappropriate for display in an untargeted medium.

The ASA upheld its original decision and deemed the FKA Twigs Poster overtly sexual and thus not suitable for display in untargeted ads, where children and any member of the public could see it.

In assessing the appropriateness of the three posters in untargeted mediums, the ASA took into account the combination of the singer's "seductive gaze, pouting lips, and the positioning of the shirt revealing the side of one breast and the side of her bottom".

The FKA Twigs Poster was the only one of the three images in the Calvin Klein ad campaign to be deemed inappropriate. The Kendall Jenner posters were found suitable for display in an untargeted medium and could therefore keep being displayed in public.

ASA approach to the objectification of women in ad campaigns

The ASA was previously criticised for their decision to ban posters in Adidas' #SupportIsEverything campaign promoting their new sports bra range. Two posters from Adidas showing cropped images of bare breasts to advertise multiple styles of sports bras were deemed to be explicit nudity. The content typically used in Adidas' advertisement and on their Twitter feed was identified by the ASA as promoting sportswear for women; explicit nudity was therefore deemed not to keep up with their usual content and the audience's expectations. The ads were found in breach of rules 1.3 (Social Responsibility) and 4.1 (Harm and offence) of the CAP Code and banned for being likely to cause widespread offence in that media.

An ad by Jigsaw featuring a woman climbing over a fence wearing only a jumper, boots and underpants was also banned by the ASA. The watchdog stated that the ad objectified the model and "invited readers to view her body as a sexual object." The ad breached CAP Code rules 1.3 (Social responsibility), 4.1 and 4.9 (Harm and offence). While Jigsaw recognised that the image in isolation might have led to it being perceived in a different way, they argued that the ad, created by an all-female team, "came from a place of celebration and freedom".

Another ruling by the ASA found an ad by the charity GIRLvsCANCER likely to cause serious and widespread offence and therefore also inappropriate for display in an untargeted medium where it could be seen by children. The ad featured a close-up image of a woman's torso with one hand obscuring her breasts and the other placed between her legs. A large white text stated "cancer won't be the last thing that fcks me". The ASA found that the use of the word 'fuck' was so likely to offend that it should not be used or alluded to in ads. In addition, they concluded that, within the context of the ad, the image was sufficiently sexually explicit to be likely to offend viewers. The charity stated that they felt the use of the word 'fcks' was necessary and appropriate in keeping with the campaign's message and creative execution. The ad was also created in collaboration with women who were cancer survivors, or currently with cancer, to convey their stories.

The ASA's approach to the objectification of women in ad campaigns has been highly criticised. The double standards between the treatment of sexualised men and women in ads have been most recently highlighted by the scrutiny of the Calvin Klein ad campaign. The ASA assessed the posters featuring FKA Twigs and Kendall Jenner but not the ones depicting Jeremy Allen White in sexualised poses and clothing. This raised further issues as the singer felt she was being labelled as a "stereotypical sexual object" by the ASA, in contrast to her male counterpart, largely ignored by the regulator.

The advertising watchdog has announced that as part of their new five-year strategy, there will be a review of the thresholds for their intervention against ads and a focus on more serious cases. The ASA has admitted that "highly subjective" and "socially divisive" issues might not warrant their intervention.