A recent ruling by the UK Advertising Standards has seen an advert banned for promoting unhealthy body image expectations for women.
The Velform MiniWaist (a waist compression garment), which was sold on The Shop Channel was featured in an advertisement where women squeezed their waists unhappily, with before and after footage of them using the garment.
A quote from the advert includes: ‘I’m doing everything I can do for this waist but there has to be something else to get that teeny tiny waist like the girls in the pictures and in the magazines.’
According to the report, the ASA found that ‘It was irresponsible to imply that a very small waist should be aspired to and that all women should aim for that figure.Overall, we concluded that the ad encouraged unhealthy body perceptions.’
Waist training garments are consistently being endorsed on social media by celebrities like the Kardashians, but they are apparently dangerous and ineffective according to Marie Claire. ‘You can’t reduce the collection of fat in any one particular area of your body’, and apparently it can squash your lungs and ribs, making breathing difficult.
