The U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority recently banned a Tunnock's Tea Cake ad for objectifying women. The ad depicts the bare leg of a female tennis player holding a tea cake at the top of her thigh in place of a tennis ball with the text, "Serve up a treat." The ASA found that the combination of the image and the phrase had the effect of objectifying women by using a woman's physical features to draw attention to the ad, and in so doing would cause serious offense and be socially irresponsible.
In another ruling, involving a Paco Rabbane TV commercial, the ASA said that showing a man in various states of undress did not violate the ASA's standards, since "the ad showed the male character's attractiveness in a light-hearted, humorous way, rather than in a degrading or humiliating manner."
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