Corset advert telling women they should have 'sexy tiny' waists banned in UK

Velform mini waist — An advert for the Velfrom Miniwaist said women were 'supposed to look like this' when showing it in use ASA

A TV advert for a corset promising to give women a "sexy tiny" waist has been banned by the UK advertising watchdog for being irresponsible. An infomercial for the Velform Miniwaist was promoted on the The Shop Channel UK and showed women using the "extreme compression" garment while a presenter asked: "Have you ever wondered how celebrities get those tiny little waists they flaunt on the red carpet?"

The advert then showed before-and-after shots of women wearing the corset, saying the Miniwaist "creates that fabulous, perfect and extreme hourglass figure that all women want". It added that "women are supposed to look like this" before telling would-be customers waists will be "so small that you'll be everyone's envy".

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received a complaint claiming the advert "encouraged unhealthy body perceptions".

Chromotion, the company behind the TV spot, defended the ad and said the corset was a "temporary way for consumers to achieve a slimming effect when wearing it". They said the ad did not specify any specific levels of tightness when using the product.

But in a ruling today (13 January), the ASA upheld the complaint and banned Chromotion from ever showing the advert again.

The advertisement watchdog said: "The ASA considered that a number of the statements made in the ad implied that a very small waist was desirable and should be aspired to, particularly the references to 'that teeny tiny waist, like the girls, in the pictures and in the magazines'."

It added: "We were concerned that in some shots the women were shown compressing their waists to appear extremely small and that, particularly in the context of the aforementioned claims, this added to the impression that women should aspire to very small waists. Overall, we concluded that the ad encouraged unhealthy body perceptions and was therefore irresponsible."

The ASA said the ad breached the code relating to social responsibility and ordered Chromotion "not to imply that all women should aspire to a certain figure".