...
By Lucy Clarke-Billings
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Advertisements promoting negative body images will be banned across the Transport for London network from next month.
As part of his mayoral election manifesto, Sadiq Khan pledged to ban adverts promoting "unhealthy or unrealistic" body images from trains, both overground and underground, and buses. The Labour mayor was elected last month.
The U.K.'s advertising watchdog received 378 complaints in 2015 about a weight-loss advert that asked customers if they were "beach body ready?" Protein World's promotional posters were defaced in Tube stations and a petition was started calling for the adverts to be banned. The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) later ruled that showing a bikini-clad female model was neither offensive nor irresponsible. The steering group will advise the network's advertising partners and stakeholders of the mayor's new policy and will ensure adverts continue to adhere to the regulations set out by the ASA.
Read More on World
Khan said: "As the father of two teenage girls, I am extremely concerned about this kind of advertising which can demean people, particularly women, and make them ashamed of their bodies. It is high time it came to an end."
Graeme Craig, Transport for London's commercial development director, said: "Advertising on our network is unlike TV, online and print media.
"Our customers cannot simply switch off or turn a page if an advertisement offends or upsets them and we have a duty to ensure the copy we carry reflects that unique environment."
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines