Urban Outfitters forced to remove ad with too skinny model

ASA, the UK advertising watchdog, has forced retailer Urban Outfitters to pull an online intimates ad from its site that featured a skinny model, claiming her "inner thigh gap" promoted an image that was "irresponsible and harmful”.

The Advertising Standards Authority received a complaint about the photo, which was advertising a pair of polka-dot bikini briefs. The complaint claimed the model, who was pictured from the waist down, was "unhealthily thin," according to the agency's ruling.

The agency agreed and ordered Urban Outfitters to remove it.

Urban Outfitters said although the model had a 23.5-inch waist, it did not think she was underweight.

"They added that it was common practice to use slim models in the underwear industry, but they did not consider that the model was underweight or unhealthily thin; they considered she had a naturally tall and slim physique," the company told the agency in a response seen by the Washington Post.