A Youtube advert for PrettyLittleThing (LON:BOO) was banned on Wednesday as a result of its “overly sexualised” nature.
PrettyLittleThing is owned by Boohoo Group alongside boohoo, boohooMAN, Nasty Gal, MissPap, Karen Millen and Coast.
The brands have signed several Love Island stars recently to boost sales and drive social media activity.
However, the Advertising Standards Authority said on Wednesday that the advert for PrettyLittleThing “must not appear again” because it is likely to cause “serious offence”.
The Youtube advert, seen in October of last year, opened with a woman wearing black vinyl, high waisted chaps-style knickers and a cut-out orange bra, dragging a neon bar and looking over her shoulder.
The advert continued to illustrate women posing seductively in various lingerie style clothing.
PrettyLittleThing’s advert received a complaint questioning whether it was offensive and irresponsible because it objectified and sexualised women.
The Advertising Standards Authority banned the advert, and told the online fashion brand “not to use advertising that was likely to cause serious offence by objectifying women”.
“We considered that the cumulative effect of the scenes meant that overall, the products had been presented in an overly-sexualised way that invited viewers to view the women as sexual objects,” the Advertising Standards Authority said.
“We therefore concluded that the ad was likely to cause serious offence and was irresponsible.”
Boohoo recently posted an impressive set of results in January, and it raised its annual guidance following strong revenue growth.
Shares in Boohoo Group plc (LON:BOO) were up on Wednesday, trading at +1.31% as of 11:52 GMT.
