Temu Advertisements Prohibited for Exploiting Women and Sexualizing a Minor

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned an advertisement from online retailer Temu for sexualizing a child. The ad depicted a girl between the ages of eight and 11 wearing a bikini in a pose that was deemed inappropriately adult-like for her age. In addition to this banned ad, four others were also prohibited for featuring sexual images and objectifying women. Temu acknowledged that the image of the child violated their marketing policy and committed not to show it again. However, the company disputed the other complaints. Nevertheless, the ASA ruled that all of the ads were inappropriate. Temu is a Chinese-owned online marketplace where sellers can upload pictures of their products. The platform has guidelines in place against using pornographic, obscene, or harassing pictures. Since its launch in the UK in 2023, Temu has gained recognition for offering a wide range of products at affordable prices. Temu informed the ASA that it has over a million photos uploaded to its Google Ads account but claimed that it does not have control over the specific products advertised or where they are displayed. Some of the objectionable images included women's torsos in revealing dresses, a jockstrap that emphasized the outline of the genitalia, padded cycling underwear, and pictures of dresses that did not show the models' faces, thereby objectifying women as sexual objects. Additionally, images of a facial roller and balloon ties were deemed phallic in shape and had a sexual nature when shown alongside other advertisements. The problematic ads were displayed on a local news website, a chess website, a translation site, and a puzzle app. Temu argued that the images with models' faces cut off were not intended to objectify women and claimed that other retail platforms display similar photos. They also defended the pictures of the other products, stating they accurately depicted the items being sold. However, the chess and news websites have stated that they will no longer advertise Temu products. The ASA has instructed Temu to ensure that its future advertisements are created with a sense of responsibility towards consumers and society. Furthermore, they emphasized that under-18s should not be portrayed in a sexual manner, and ads should be responsibly targeted.