However, the advertising remains prohibited in locations where it could be seen by minors.
At the beginning of January, the Calvin Klein advertisement featuring FKA Twigs was banned by the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) because, according to the ASA, the singer and actress was portrayed as a “stereotypical sexual object.” Now they have withdrawn part of the ban.
FKA Twigs defended the ad
In the billboard advertisement, the singer was seen on the side with an open shirt and half naked. In an Instagram post, she defended the campaign, saying: “I don’t see the ‘stereotypical sexual object’ they have labeled me as. I see a beautiful, strong, dark-skinned woman whose incredible body has overcome more pain than you can imagine.”
ASA revises part of its statement
Now, in a new blog post published on Wednesday March 6, the ASA said it had “carefully reviewed” the original decision. The statement read: “We have made it clear that while we believe the image of FKA Twigs was overtly sexual (although not explicitly sexual), the ad portrayed her as confident and in control and therefore did not stereotype her sexual object was presented.”
Nevertheless, the advertisement was “obviously sexual and therefore not suitable for display in an untargeted medium,” which would refer to advertising in billboard form. The advertisement is therefore still prohibited in places where minors can be.
The authority continued that “while the outside criticism was important and made us think, it was not the reason why we reconsidered our decision.” It added: “That reason was our discomfort with the wording in the ruling , which we used to justify our decision that FKA Twigs was objectified. We felt that the three posters were not treated consistently and were therefore incorrect.” The other posters were two more from the advertising campaign that featured Kendall Jenner, which were not banned.
The ASA has said the newly released decision is final.