UK bans Calvin Klein advert featuring FKA twigs for 'objectifying women'

Following the success of Calvin Klein’s campaign featuring Golden Globe-winning actor Jeremy Allen White for his role in The Bear, the brand is now under fire for another of its ads. The Advertising Standards Authority, the UK’s advertising regulator, has banned a poster starring British singer FKA twigs from the brand because it is deemed to objectify women.

The poster, originally launched in April 2023, shows the artist wearing an open denim shirt, exposing part of her body. The image is accompanied by the text “Calvins or nothing”. ASA has alleged that the campaign is “overtly sexual” as well as offensive and irresponsible, as it objectifies women and shows their bodies inappropriately.

“The composition of the image puts the focus on the model’s body and not on the clothes being advertised. The piece uses nudity and focuses more on FKA Twigs’ physique than on the clothes, to the extent that it presents the model as a stereotypical sex object. We conclude that the ad is irresponsible and likely to cause serious offence,” the ASA explained.

In his defence of the piece, Calvin Klein claimed that FKA twigs, whom he described as “a confident and empowered woman”, had collaborated in the production of the image and approved its publication. It also confirms that it is her creative line, the same one she uses in every campaign by naming Kendall Jenner’s campaign. However, ASA defends that the photos of Kendall do not put the focus on the body of the protagonist and the level of nudity is what you would expect in a lingerie ad..