Dive Brief:

• A United Kingdom authority has banned an American Apparel ad for sexualizing children, charging that the model shown wearing a revealing bodysuit appears to be under 16 years old. 
• American Apparel claims the model wearing the bodysuit in the ad is 20 years of age, and that the ad simply shows all angles of the item, like many clothing ads. 
• The retailer’s ads have faced criticism in the past for being suggestive under former CEO Dov Charney, who was removed last year after allegations of sexual harassment. 

Dive Insight:

American Apparel is again facing scrutiny for an overly sexual and suggestive ad. The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned images used to promoting American Apparel's “Lips Print” bodysuit, charging that the model appears to be under 16 years old and the ad could be reasonably construed as an attempt sexualize a child. American Apparel countered that the model is actually 20.

This is the second time ASA has banned an American Apparel ad, the first being a “Back to School” campaign in which a young woman is shown bending over a car in a tartan miniskirt, exposing her underwear.

CEO Paula Schneider promised to overhaul American Apparel’s advertising strategy after replacing Dov Charney recently, saying that the company has done away with its "borderline pornographic" marketing approach. While the company seems to be making strides to achieve this goal, firing both creative directors and appointing new heads of marketing and digital last month, it seems like there's still work to do, at least according to standards in the UK.