Influencer Has Billboard In London Banned After Complaints Over Her Appearing In Lingerie
An influencer with 168k Instagram followers and a successful OnlyFans business has been the target of complaints ever since she had a billboard of herself put up in London. A back-and-forth over the billboard resulted in it being banned.
Can't an influencer appear in lingerie on a giant billboard on the side of a business without there being complaints? Not in London. Emily Rose found this out the hard way after she put a billboard up in September last year.
The Advertising Standards Authority reportedly received 12 whole complaints in regards to the billboard. That's apparently enough to have a billboard removed. The ASA ruled that Rose's billboard could no longer appear in its current form.
"The image showed Ms Rose in lingerie. She wore a push-up bra and her left hand was draped over her chest, which drew attention to her cleavage," the ASA said in its ruling. "The top and front of her thong-style underwear were clearly visible and the cropped image drew attention to the thin straps."
"An open blouse was worn off one shoulder, which suggested that she was in the process of undressing. We considered that her expression, in combination with the styling and her pose, was suggestive and coquettish."
They continued, "We considered that the styling, pose and expression would be seen as sexualized and provocative. We concluded that the ad breached the Code."
Emily Rose Didn't Go Down Without A Fight
Now I know what you're thinking here. What does "coquettish" mean? Well it's a sipping tea with you pinky in the air way of saying, "behaving in such a way as to suggest a playful sexual attraction; flirtatious."
You're probably also wondering what the difference is between this billboard and almost any one a lingerie company would put up. I've never been to London, so I couldn't tell you if they somehow don't run those over there or not.
They could just hate entrepreneurs and small businesses. Although, to be fair, one of the 12 complaints mention the billboard being too close to a youth center, schools and a roller skating rink where kids hangout.
All valid points if the internet didn't exist and they didn't have much worse content in the palm of their hands already. Now Rose didn't take the banning of her billboard lying down.
She argued that she had "developed the ad with the sensibilities of potential audiences in mind." Not only that, "She believed it adhered to established advertising guidelines and reflected trends observed in leading brands."
The ASA did not agree with her. They ruled, with those 12 complaints in hand, that the billboard must not appear again in its current form.
Score one for the bad guys. Rose might have lost this round, but something tells me she's going to keep fighting the good fight.