Femfresh has been ordered to change an advert promoting its new bikini line shaving products, after 17 complainants contacted UK watchdog the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
The advert, which aired on ITV Player and 4oD in March and April, featured women wearing underwear and swimwear dancing around.
Several times close-up shots of the women’s crotches were displayed as they performed ‘thrusting’ movements.
As a result, 17 complaints were lodged with the ASA, accusing the ad of objectifying women and portraying them in an overly sexualised way.
Fremfresh’s parent company Church & Dwight stated that it did not believe the ad was offensive or socially irresponsible, and that close-ups were shown to illustrate that the product could give a smooth result.
However, the ASA sided with the complainants and stated: “Overall we considered that the dance sequence was highly sexualised, in the style of a music video, and featured many thrusting dance moves.
“The ad focused to a large extent on the women’s crotches, with relatively few shots of their faces, and some of them wore high-cut swimsuits that were more exposing than many swimsuits.
“Even taking into account the nature of the product, we considered that it had been presented in an overly-sexualised way that objectified women.”