Avon pulls ad after accusations it 'shamed' women

By AdNews | 22 January 2019
 

Avon has pulled its most recent ad campaign after it was slammed for shaming women for having cellulite.

The ad, which forms part of a Canadian campaign for a new product range, featured a woman laughing alongside the message: “Dimples are cute on your face (not on your thighs).”

A second ad in the campaign reads “Every body is beautiful”, but then contradicts that statement by highlighting products to “reduce cellulite, firm skin and soften stretch marks”.

Actress Jameela Jamil, who is an advocate for body positivity, called out the brand on Twitter and received support from other women around the world.

“Stop shaming women about age, gravity and cellulite. They’re inevitable, completely normal things,” she tweeted.

“Every body is beautiful, unless they have any ‘flaws’ I guess. What a gross abuse of the body positive movement.”

https://twitter.com/jameelajamil/status/1086718273331159040

Avon has since apologised and told customers it was removing the campaign in a public post across its social media.

"We hear you and we apologise. We messed up on our Smooth Moves Naked Proof messaging. We want to let you know that we are working diligently to remove this messaging from our marketing materials moving forward. We're on it. We love our community of women," the company said.

Beauty brands have increasingly come under criticism for how they advertise to women with previous campaigns from Dove and Flat Tummy Co landing in hot water last year.

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