The advertising watchdog has banned a poster campaign for cosmetic surgery that featured a woman in a skimpy top in posters designed to look like the cover of a glossy women's magazine, after deciding it trivialised breast augmentation and would be seen by young girls.
Spire Healthcare ran the fake magazine cover in a poster campaign in outdoor locations including bus stops.
The ad appeared to be for a fictional glossy magazine called Cosmetic, with the masthead across the top of the poster and text below including "same day surgery", "get more, pay less" and "boob jobs" written in the style of coverlines as if promoting features inside.
The ASA received 10 complaints that the ad was irresponsible because it trivialised cosmetic surgery and was unsuitable to appear as posters that could be seen by young girls.
Using the ad across bus shelters was an "untargeted, uncontrolled medium, visible to all passing the ads", the regulator ruled.
The ASA said the image of "the woman with large breasts and a top which accentuated that", coupled with the style of the ad and the text "conveyed the message that breast surgery was a straightforward, risk-free lifestyle decision".
Given that the ad could easily be seen by children, Spire had not promoted its cosmetic surgery "in a sufficiently responsible manner", the regulator added.
The ASA said the emphasis of the ad was on the speed of the procedure and its low cost, not about important consultations prior to surgery, which was "likely to be seen as trivialising breast enhancement surgery".
Spire Healthcare claimed the campaign was a "test" to advertise a "new concept of day-case breast augmentation surgery", which had somehow not received clearance from its own copy team.
The Edinburgh-based company said the poster "did not conform to its brand guidelines" and was no longer in use.
• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".
• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook.
