UK watchdog calls out Mango for featuring ‘unhealthily thin’ model

A product listing by Spanish retailer Mango has been banned by a UK watchdog for featuring an “unhealthily thin” model which it deemed “irresponsible”.

The action was taken by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which was responding to a complainant who made the allegations and called for the ad to be banned.

The complaint was in relation to a product listing for a short sleeve sweater worn by a specific model in an image on Mango’s mobile app, seen December 29, 2023.

ASA said it was concerned by Mango’s “lack of response”, which was in breach of the organisation’s CAP Code for “unreasonable delay”.

When it came to the image itself, ASA said that it “considered that the model’s upper body and hips appeared to be very narrow and there were gaps between her arms and body, accentuating her slender frame”.

In its ruling, the organisation said that both her arms appeared to be “very thin”, with her upper arms in particular being “noticeably thinner above her elbow joints”.

As such, ASA concluded the ad was “irresponsible” and must therefore “not appear in its current form”.