Newly appointed London Mayor Sadiq Khan has called for an end to body-shaming by banning all adverts which promote a negative body image on the Transport for London (TfL) network. Hurrah!
Since winning the election in May, Khan has made it his duty to ban media which is demeaning to women. The action comes following the uproar which ensued last April after the controversial Protein World ad, which asked women if they were ‘beach body ready’.
The advert received 378 complaints from the public and sparked online backlash as women posed beside the advert in mockery of the body-shaming message. An online petition calling for the removal of the controversial ads also gained more than 70,000 signatures.
Yet complaints made to watchdog ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) last year were ignored by the company as they claimed the advert was not offensive.
This led many women to deface the 'body-shaming' posters and call for it to be banned - only to be met with furious backlash from Protein World...
Thankfully Khan has taken action after revealing the issue is close to his heart as he said in a recent statement,
'As the father of two teenage girls, I am extremely concerned about this kind of advertising which can demean people, particularly women, and make them ashamed of their bodies. It is high time it came to an end.'
He continued,
'Nobody should feel pressurised, while they travel on the Tube or bus, into unrealistic expectations surrounding their bodies and I want to send a clear message to the advertising industry about this.'
We're hoping the ban on body-shaming ads on public transport will have a postive influence and will prevent any demeaning media towards women in the future.
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