Model in Gucci Ad Is Deemed ‘Unhealthily Thin’ by British Regulator
By DAN BILEFSKY

LONDON — The model in the Gucci ad is young and waiflike, her frail body draped in a geometric-pattern dress as she leans back in front of a wall painted with a tree branch that appears to mimic the angle of her silhouette.

On Wednesday, the Advertising Standards Authority of Britain ruled that the ad was “irresponsible” and that the model looked “unhealthily thin,” fanning a perennial debate in the fashion industry over when thin is too thin.

The regulator said that the way the woman in the image had posed elongated her torso and accentuated her waist, so that it appeared to be very small. It said her “somber facial expression and dark makeup, particularly around her eyes, made her face look gaunt.” It said the offending image — a still photograph of the model that appeared in an online video posted on the website of The Times of London in December — should not appear again in its current form.

The specific image was removed from the video on Gucci’s YouTube channel, though the model still appears in the ad directed by Glen Luchford.

The Italian fashion brand, for its part, had defended the ad, saying it was part of a video that portrayed a dance party and that was aimed at an older and sophisticated audience. Nowhere in the ads were any models’ bones visible, it said, and they were all “toned and slim.” It noted that “it was, to some extent, a subjective issue as to whether a model looked unhealthily thin,” according to the authority.

The decision by the advertising authority, an independent industry regulatory group, barred Gucci from using the image in advertisements in Britain. The ruling comes amid a longstanding debate on both sides of the Atlantic about the perils of overly thin models projecting an unhealthy body image for women. As when critics lashed out against idealized images of “heroin chic” in the early 1990s, some have voiced concern that fashion houses are encouraging potentially hazardous behaviors by glamorizing models who are rail-thin.

Last year, the French Parliament approved measures prohibiting modeling agencies from hiring dangerously thin models and requiring altered photographs of models to be clearly labeled. Under the law, models need a doctor’s certificate to certify they are fit to work, and employers could be jailed or fined 75,000 euros, or about $85,000, if the rules are breached.

The measures were intended to prevent young and vulnerable models from being pressed into becoming excessively thin, to protect against anorexia and to push back against images of unhealthily thin women featured in glossy fashion magazines.

At the time, some modeling agencies criticized the law, saying it was wrong to link the thinness of models to anorexia without looking at the full spectrum of symptoms. “It is very serious to conflate anorexia and the thinness of models,” Isabelle Saint-Félix, secretary general of the National Union of Modeling Agencies, told Agence France-Presse at the time.

Last year, the Advertising Standards Authority ruled against an Yves Saint Laurent ad that featured a model with pipe cleaner-like legs lying on the floor. The authority said the model appeared “unhealthily underweight,” with a visible rib cage and very thin legs.

英下令禁刊「火柴棒模特兒」 古馳駁：是結實清瘦

義大利時尚精品古馳去年底推出新廣告，英國廣告監管單位認為，照片中的女模特兒身形削瘦，看來很不健康，下令禁止古馳再刊登這張廣告；但古馳堅持模特兒並無不妥。

古馳（Gucci）去年12月在「泰晤士報」（The Times）網站刊登這系列廣告，其中一張照片女模特兒上後背傾靠牆壁，左肩背著紅色新款肩包，照片中的男模特兒坐在地上，被英國「廣告標準管理局」（The Advertising Standards Authority）點名批評。

廣告標準管理局指出，照片中的女模特兒身體軀幹及手臂過細，與她的下半身及頭部比例不對稱，「模特兒臉部的表情陰沈，臉上的妝容陰暗，特別是眼睛四週，使她看起來很憔悴」。

基於這些理由，廣告標準管理局認為這名女模特兒削瘦模樣很不健康，製作這個廣告也很不負責任，除非廣告進行修改，否則不得再刊登使用。

古馳這系列廣告同時也拍了影片，片中以舞蹈派對為主題，瞄準的是熟齡客層，因此選在泰晤士報刊登。

對於廣告標準管理局的批評，古馳表示，照片中的模特兒並沒有不健康的削瘦，而是結實和清瘦，因為在廣告照片裡她身上沒有任何一處的骨頭被看見，她的化妝是自然呈現而非濃妝艷抹，現場燈光也強調要呈現溫暖的感覺，她的衣服沒有不當曝露。

這項廣告禁令引發網友討論，有網友指出，「有不健康的削瘦，那不健康肥胖的模特兒又怎麼說？胖模特兒就被鼓勵是有勇氣，這算哪門子的邏輯」。

另一位育有16歲女兒的媽媽則說，古馳廣告裡的模特兒都太瘦了，她可不希望女兒看到這些廣告後認為模特兒的身材是正常的，因為瘦成這個樣子根本就不正常。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/07/business/international/gucci-ad-unhealthily-thin-model.html

Video：The image deemed “irresponsible” by the Advertising Standards Authority of Britain appeared at the end of this online video, but has been taken out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQOppPHIOHk&feature=player_embedded

2016-04-06 聯合新聞網 即時報導 中央社