Aussie ad for fashion brand Supre banned for sexualising 'tweens'

By Staff, brandrepublic.com, 06 June 2011, 04:36PM

SYDNEY - The sexualisation of young people debate is making waves around the world, as Australian fashion clothing brand Supre has found after its ad featuring a topless teenager was banned.

Supre: controversial Australian ad is banned

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The print, in store and bus ads, were pulled up by the Advertising Standards Bureau for sexualising young people, after a string of complaints, with some people claiming the fashion label was sexualising young people via images that came "dangerously close to soft porn".

The ads in question featured a young woman wearing Supre jeggings, a cross between jeans and leggings, with only her hair covering her breasts.

Supre has been running a TV ad at the same time, which has also come under fire for containing sexualised content.

Supre had claimed that its ads were targeting 18- to 35-year-old women, but this was rejected by the ASB, which said the Supre brand is popular amongst pre-teen and teenage girls.

One complaint to the ASB read: "With only hair over her breasts and not completely covering them, this picture immediately invokes the idea of pornography. I do not know if the woman is a real model or computer image but she looks about 15 years old – hence child pornography. I do not believe that such nudity should be forced upon the community."

Another said: "I object to this advertisement portraying the girl in a gratuitously sexual fashion by leaving her topless. Supre is a store which markets to young teens and women... this advertisement is on the border of soft porn."