UK's ASA upholds complaint over Miu Miu ad

By

Cajsa Lykke Carlson

Published
May 6, 2015

The British Advertising Standards Agency has upheld a complaint against Prada SpA over Miu Miu's SS15 summer ad campaign featuring Mia Goth.

Photo: Miu Miu

The ad, which was featured in Vogue UK, shows Goth seen through a slightly open doorway. The complainant felt the image appeared to show a child dressed as an adult in a sexually suggestive pose.

Prada said it did not believe Goth was shown in a sexually suggestive pose or that there was a sexual tone to the ad or her expression. Vogue stated that they did not believe their readers would think that the ad made any suggestion that the model was a child.

However, the ASA upheld the complaint, stating: "We considered that her youthful appearance, in conjunction with the setting and pose, could give the impression that the ad presented a child in a sexualised way. Therefore, we concluded that the ad was irresponsible and was likely to cause serious offence."

The ad mustn't appear again in its current form and the ASA told Prada "to ensure future ads did not include images that inappropriately sexualised young women or were likely to cause serious offence."