Urban Outfitters is under fire (what else is knew) for a racy advertisement, this time after running photos of a model with a massive thigh gap on the brand's website.
See below for the pictures that got the UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) so up in harms that they ordered UO to remove the image immediately:
UK watchdogs are more stringently opposed to airbrushing and deceptive advertising practices than their U.S. counterparts, but is this model even doctored?
Given that this is the same brand that made an "Eat Less" V-neck tee and faux blood-spattered Kent State sweatshirt, we would not put it past them.
If you're willing to mock eating disorders and national tragedies on your clothing, surely a little thigh gap enhancement is not going to give you any pause.
Does that prove they did anything wrong, though? The ASA released a statement regarding its decision to order Urban Outfitters to remove the photo:
"The model was very thin, and [in particular], that there was a significant gap between the model’s thighs, and that her thighs and knees were a similar width."
"We understood that Urban Outfitters' target market was young people," the group said, and a "noticeably underweight model" was employed to market the apparel.
The ads, they said, were "likely to impress upon that audience that the image was representative of the people who might wear Urban Outfitters’ clothing, and as being something to aspire to."
"We therefore concluded that the ad was irresponsible," the ASA concluded.
Urban Outfitters responded to the thigh gap rumors and criticism by stating that the offending model is not "underweight" and, in fact, has a 23.5 inch waistline.
That reply may show that they somewhat missed the point, but whatever.
