Rimmel make-up advert banned for playing on girls' insecurities

By Sarah Parsons | Published: 3-Jan-2024

The 'Back to School' advert starred 25-year-old Love Island star Lana Jenkins

A Rimmel London advert has been banned for "playing on young girls’ insecurities". 

The social media video featuring 25-year-old Love Island star Lana Jenkins was part of the Coty-owned brand's 'Back to School' campaign. 

Jenkins was seen applying make-up, holding a fluffy pen and wearing a pigtail hairstyle. 

The video had a vibrant pink colour scheme and the caption read "Get ready to slay this back to school season.." along with a book emoji. 

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the video implied it was necessary to wear make-up to school to succeed.

The ASA found that that ad "implied that girls or young women were more likely to succeed or do well when they went back to school if they wore make-up, in this case a concealing and contouring product". 

"We considered the ad had the effect of playing on young girls’ insecurities about their appearance and therefore concluded it was irresponsible," it continued. 

Coty denied that the 'Back to School' campaign was targeted at children.

It said that the advert was targeted to women 18-35 years old who were interested in cosmetics. 

Coty claimed that the content referred generally to the period of time starting in September for anyone going back to work including university students, mothers and teachers.

Cosmetics Business has reached out to Coty for further comment. 

 

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