Four display ads and an in-app ad for Temu, an online marketplace:
a. The first display ad seen on a regional online newspaper on 19 June 2023, featured six images in a row. The first image was of a young girl wearing a bikini,
the girl was shown looking at the camera, one hand on her hip and the other pushing her hair behind her ear. The second image was of a woman wearing a white halterneck dress, the image was cut so only her torso and arms were shown. The third image was of
a silver metallic facial roller. The fourth image was of three balloon tying tools in pink, red and blue colours. The fifth image was a woman wearing a white crop top. Only the woman's chest, arms and midriff were shown. The sixth image was of a grey
jock strap.
b. The second display ad seen on a chess website on 18 June 2023, featured six images. The first image featured a woman wearing a burgundy one shoulder jumpsuit that was cut at one side showing part of the woman's
midriff, the top of her chest and her left arm. The image was cut just below the woman's eyes, showing the bottom part of her face only. The second image was of padded cycling underwear. The third image was of three balloon tying tools in pink, red and
blue. The fourth image was a woman wearing a grey tight fitting jumpsuit. The image was cut to show her face from the eyes down to the top part of her thighs only. The fifth image was of a grey jock strap. The sixth image was a pair of red boots.
c. The third display ad seen on a chess website on 17 June 2023, featured three of the images seen in ad (b); the woman wearing a burgundy jumpsuit, padded cycling underwear and three balloon tying tools in pink, red and blue.
d. The fourth display ad seen on a language translation website on 18 June 2023, featured eight images. Five that were also in ad (b); three balloon tying tools in pink, red and blue, padded cycling underwear, a woman wearing a
burgundy jumpsuit, a pair of red boots and a woman wearing a grey jumpsuit. The sixth image was featured in ad (a) and was a woman wearing a white halterneck dress. The seventh image was of a woman wearing a tight fitting pink cat suit, the woman's head
was not shown. The eighth image was of a rubber pink foot massager.
e. The in-app ad seen within a puzzle app on the 18 June 2023, featured images of leopard print underwear with the back removed and a woman wearing a short black
skirt and tights, only the woman's legs were shown. Issue
The ASA received five complaints.
1. Three complainants, who considered that the content of ads (a), (b), (c) and (d) were sexually graphic,
objected that the ads were likely to cause serious or widespread offence.
2. One complainant, who believed the pose and clothing of the model in a bikini, sexualised someone who was a child, challenged whether ad (a) was
irresponsible and offensive.
3. Two complainants, who believed ads (a), (b) and (c) sexually objectified women, challenged whether they were offensive and irresponsible.
4. Two complainants challenged
whether ads (b), (c) and (e) were inappropriately targeted.
ASA Assessment: All complaints upheld.
We considered that ads (a), (b), (c) and (d) taken in their entirety with the accompanying images of
the models, and with no explanation or labelling, contained products that were likely to be seen as sexual in nature. The ads appeared in general media where adult themed or sexual products were unlikely to be anticipated. On that basis the ads were
likely to cause widespread offence.
We considered that the young model in ad (b) appeared to be a girl of eight to eleven years of age.
The girl wore a two piece bikini. The image was cut off just beneath
the bikini bottoms. The girl was posed with one hand on her hip and the other appearing to push her hair behind her ears. The pose was quite adult for a girl of her age and she appeared alongside two other images also in the ad that featured mature women
modelling clothing intended for adults.
We concluded that the ad had the effect of portraying a child in a sexual way and was irresponsible.
Ad (a) showed a woman wearing a tight-fitting white dress, the
image was cut so only her torso and arms were shown. A second image featured a woman wearing a white crop top and only her chest, arms and midriff were shown. The images appeared alongside a jockstrap and items such as a facial massager and balloon ties,
which were phallic in shape and appeared sexual in nature. Further to that the jockstrap, with its accentuated crotch, gave the impression of being sexual, rather than for utility.
Focusing on a person's body while obscuring or
removing their face was likely to be seen as objectifying. As the disembodied images of the women wearing tight and revealing clothing appeared alongside items that were likely to be understood as sexual, we considered the women were presented as
stereotypical sexual objects.
We considered that ads (b) and (c) featured content that sexually objectified women and ad (b) featured an image of a person under 18 years of age in a sexual way. Therefore they were unsuitable to be
seen by audiences of any age, regardless of whether the advertiser had taken steps to target them towards audiences over 18.
The ads must not appear again in their current form. We told Whaleco UK Ltd t/a Temu to ensure that
future ads were prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society and that they did not cause serious or widespread offence by presenting products in a sexual way in general media or by presenting individuals as stereotypical sexual
objects. In addition, persons who were or appeared to be under 18 years of age in ads must not be portrayed in a sexual way and ads must be responsibly targeted.