CAP and BCAP publish update on their review of body image in advertising
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At the end of last year, CAP and BCAP published an update to their ongoing review of body image in advertising. The issue of digitally altered images in advertising, in particular the use of tools to modify body parts and proportions, was first addressed by CAP and BCAP with an open call for evidence in 2021. An interim statement on the topic was then made in 2022.
While the 2022 statement contains no indication that pre- and post-production techniques are considered inherently harmful, it explains that these tools should not be used to misleadingly exaggerate the effect that a given product or service is capable of achieving nor to promote potentially harmful body image.
The recent update sets out steps that CAP and BCAP will be taking and have taken as part of its review of this area:
- To resolve by Spring 2024, whether the existing Codes and guidance offer adequate protections against the potential harms arising from digitally altered body parts and proportions depicted in advertising. In answering this question, CAP and BCAP will continue to take an evidence-based policy making approach. This involves acknowledging receipt of all evidence sent to them, reviewing evidence impartially, responding to significant pieces of evidence and keeping all evidence on file.
- To host a roundtable comprising children and young people to help inform CAP and BCAP’s assessment under point 1. A roundtable was hosted in October 2023 and its findings will be reported in full in Spring 2024. This action reflects the fact that CAP and BCAP have highlighted children and young people as a key demographic most susceptible to body image harms. It is worth noting that a roundtable proposal to impose labelling requirements on ads where body parts have been digitally altered – as is the case in Norway, France and Israel – has already been rejected. Based on existing evidence, CAP and BCAP did not consider that this would achieve the intended effect and may even draw further attention to digitally altered body proportions.
- Lastly, CAP and BCAP will engage with members of the advertising industry to assist any wider considerations of industry initiatives aimed at addressing harms in this area.
Spring 2024 is likely to bring more stringent rules on the use of digitally altered body parts and proportions in advertising. As the ASA has already brought enforcement actions against high-fashion brands featuring unhealthily thin models and social media influencers for excessive use of filters and digital manipulation, advertisers in this space will want to keep a close eye on the outcome of this review to ensure compliance.
Written by Robert Turner and Hadrien Espiard.
