ASA receives 360 complaints for Protein World ‘Beach Body Ready ’ ad
Protein World’s controversial ‘are you beach body ready’ advert has generated 360 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority following a social media backlash, The Drum has learned.
Irate commuters on the London Underground took to Twitter to voice their displeasure at the billboard campaign for their promotion of an idealised physical form.
These ranged from the crude people scrawling ‘f**k off’ across the canary yellow campaign posters to the inspired, as Dove sought to capitalise on the dispute with a rival campaign featuring more fully formed models.
This has prompted the ASA to ban any repeats of the ad in its current form amidst ‘concerns’ at the weight loss claims made by the protein product but will also mount an inquiry into whether the promotion is offensive.
An ASA spokesperson said: “Although the ad won’t appear in the meantime, we’ve launched an investigation to establish if it breaks harm and offence rules or is socially irresponsible,” said the spokesman.
“We will now carefully and objectively explore the complaints that have prompted concerns around body confidence and promptly publish our findings.”
Many of the hundreds to voice their objection to the campaign claimed that the ad was irresponsible in its promotion of an unhealthy body type.