Jennifer Money
Business Reporter, BBC News
Snag
Sophie models to hang and obtain positive and negative comments on her weight
The boss of the online clothing brand Snag told the BBC that he obtains more than 100 complaints per day that the models of his advertisements are “too big”.
The director general Brigitte Read indicates that the models of her size 4-38 clothing are often the target of “hateful” messages on their weight.
The brand was cited in an online debate on the question of whether advertisements showing “unhealthy fat” models should be prohibited after a next announcement, in which a model seemed “unhealthy”, was prohibited.
The United Kingdom’s advertising watchdog says that it has prohibited advertisements using models that unfortunately seem to be overweight rather than overweight due to the aspiration of society towards thinness.
Standard advertising Authority (ASA) received 61 complaints concerning the weight of models in 2024, the vast majority concerning the models that seemed too thin.
But he had only reasons to investigate eight complaints and none concerned the hanging.
Catherine Thom read the BBC report on the next ban on the announcement and contacted that she found “hypocritical to prohibit advertisements where the models seem too thin to be socially irresponsible, but when the models are clearly obese, we say that it is bodily positivity”.
Catherine Thom
Advertisements should not normalize being extremely under or overweight, explains Catherine
The 36 -year -old man from Edinburgh was one of the many people who contacted the BBC with this view, while a Reddit thread made more than 1,000 comments with the same theme.
Ms. Thom says that she was “bombed with images of obesely obese girls” after buying a hitch when she was pregnant.
“I see rumbling tights placing these obese morbid people on social networks,” she said.
“How is it authorized when the photo of the following model is not? There should be equity, not a politically correct bodily positivity. The advertisements normalizing an unhealthy weight, whether obese or seriously insufficient, are just as harmful.”
‘Fat phobia’
But the founder of Snag, Ms. Read, says: “The shame of fat does not help them to lose weight and in fact, it really has an impact on mental health and therefore their physical health.”
She thinks that the idea of prohibiting advertisements showing models with larger bodies is a symptom of the “phobia fat” of society.
From his 100 employees, 12 are dedicated “just to remove negative comments and large people who promote bodily positivity”.
“Large people exist, they are just as valid as thin people, they buy clothes and they need to see what they look like about people who look like them,” she said.
“You are no less worth yourself. Models of all sizes, shapes, ethnicities and capacities are valid and must be represented.”
Sophie Scott is a 27 -year -old Lossiemouth show owner in Scotland who modeled for the ransacking and received positive and negative comments on her size on social networks.
Sophie Scott
Sophie says that if she helps a person accept her body, hate comments do not bother her
“I receive either” you are so beautiful “, or” you have to lose weight “. When I started to model, I was a size 30. After losing weight since then, I am always at the reception of hatred comments because it will never be enough for some people.”
Sophie is used to online comments telling her that she is “unhealthy”, but says: “The physical form is not measured by your appearance. They make assumptions, they do not know me or my activity levels.
“People say” you glorify obesity “but I don’t think anyone is looking at me and said” I want to look like that “. Maybe some people look at me and say” she has a similar body type for me “.
“When I receive a message from someone who says” we have the same size and you have inspired me to wear what I want “, that removes each comment from hatred that I receive.
“If I helped a person accept their body, the comments of hatred do not really bother me.”
Following
This following announcement was prohibited because the shot and the angle made the model too thin
Fashion journalist Victoria Moss thinks that the “depressing” debate shows that society is not used to seeing more important bodies in advertising campaigns.
“You would be hard enough to find more authentic models on retailers’ websites, because even an average size is a 10/12 and more is 14/16, which is actually the average size of a woman in the United Kingdom,” she said.
“The problem with advertisements showing very small or very large models is the context and provocation. We know that people suffering from food disorders are looking for very thin people like ‘Thinspiration’ ‘. But if someone sees a bigger person, they are not going to drive to buy 10 McDonald’s to try to become bigger.”
Jess Tye à l’ASA told BBC that the watchdog obtains around 35,000 complaints per year about any advertising, and in 2024, 61 complaints about 52 advertisements relating to the weight of the model.
She says that an announcement will be the subject of an investigation if it could be considered as encouraging people to aspire to an unhealthy body weight. Advertisements simply promoting bodily trust and using a relevant model for the product size range would not be studied.
“This has to do with the wider societal context. We currently know society in the United Kingdom tends to consider thinness as an aspiration and this is not the case to be overweight.”
