Zara’s ‘Unhealthily Thin’ Ad Ban Sparks Ethics Debate

By The Malketeer

Fashion has long thrived on aspirational imagery but when aspiration begins to resemble unhealthy extremes, who draws the line and who pays the price?

Zara, the global high street giant, found itself at the centre of controversy this week after two of its adverts were banned by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for featuring models who appeared “unhealthily thin.”

The watchdog deemed the ads “irresponsible,” pointing to visual cues such as gaunt facial appearances, protruding collarbones, and overemphasised leg thinness shaped by shadows and posing.

Zara has since removed the ads and reiterated that both models were medically certified as healthy at the time of the shoot — a compliance measure aligned with the UK Model Health Inquiry’s 2007 report, Fashioning a Healthy Future.

Still, the ASA wasn’t swayed.

The ban serves as another reminder that public and regulatory sentiment around body representation in advertising is evolving — and fast.

Posing the Right Questions

This isn’t an isolated incident.

In recent months, household names like Marks & Spencer and Next have also had fashion ads banned over similar concerns.

Posing, lighting, wardrobe choices, and camera angles that, when combined, appear to glorify extreme thinness — even when the models themselves are medically fit.

The ASA’s increasing scrutiny reflects a broader cultural reckoning.

Body image is no longer just a matter of aesthetics; it’s an issue of social responsibility.

With rising rates of eating disorders and body dysmorphia, particularly among young people exposed to idealised imagery online, the role of brands in shaping body ideals cannot be underestimated.

But the conversation is far from one-sided.

Double Standards in the Spotlight

As the ASA cracks down on imagery that glamorises underweight frames, questions have emerged from the public: why is the same level of scrutiny not applied to models who may appear unhealthily overweight?

This isn’t just a semantic debate.

It’s a test of whether regulatory bodies can truly deliver on body positivity without falling into bias.

If advertising should not promote one extreme, should it not also guard against the other?

Or are we still measuring health visually, rather than medically — and is that fair?

The challenge lies in how “health” is perceived and represented.

Thinness, for years, has been held to an almost forensic standard.

But as the pendulum swings towards inclusivity, are brands being given too much creative licence in the name of diversity, while simultaneously being punished for leaning on the old aesthetic norms?

The Marketer’s Tightrope

For marketers and brand managers, this moment is a tightrope walk.

On one side: the creative freedom to showcase products in stylised, aspirational ways.

On the other: increasing accountability for how those choices influence body image and public well-being.

It’s not just about hiring diverse models anymore — it’s about how they’re portrayed.

Are lighting and posing choices exaggerating body features to the point of distortion?

Is the focus on fashion, or on a physique that suggests something more troubling?

Marketing teams must now ask themselves: not just “does it look good?” but “does it feel right?”

Because today’s consumers — and regulators — are watching with keener eyes and greater expectations.

Towards Responsible Representation

What does responsible representation look like in 2025?

It’s nuanced.

It means working with models of different sizes — but also presenting them authentically.

It means celebrating beauty without airbrushing it into unattainable ideals.

It means understanding that inclusivity isn’t just a casting decision; it’s a storytelling commitment.

The Zara case is a wake-up call.

Not just for fashion marketers, but for all brand custodians who trade in visual narratives.

We are moving into an era where ethics and aesthetics must co-exist — not as opposing forces, but as partners in progress.

Because in the end, advertising doesn’t just sell clothes.

It sells ideas of who we ought to be.

And increasingly, the public is asking: is that image a healthy one?