An advert by the Daily Star for a competition offering readers a chance to win a date with a Page 3 model has been banned by the Advertising Standards Agency after they found it to be “sexist, offensive and socially irresponsible”.
The newspaper, which named itself the “official home of Page 3 babes” after the Sun stopped publishing photos of topless models in January, offered a prize of a visit from two “Star Babes” to the winner’s workplace.
The ad said: “We’re all skint, shivering and face the prospect of politicians droning on for months ahead of this year’s general election, so we decided it was time to cheer up Britain. And what better way than with the help of our fantastic Page 3 girls?”
It continued: “Just think how chuffed your workmates will be to learn you have bagged them this prize, and how jealous your other friends will be!”
In the newspaper, the advert was accompanied by an image of three women wearing only bikini bottoms.
The online version also included three photographs. In one, the women were wearing burlesque-style knickers and their breasts were partially covered by their arms. It was captioned “The girls are desperate to meet you!”
The ASA received 31 complaints about the advertisement for the competition, including one from Object, a group which campaigns against the sexual objectification of women in lads’ mags, lap-dancing clubs and sexist advertising.
The ASA upheld the complaints, banned the ads and added that the Daily Star must ensure “that their future advertising contained nothing that was socially irresponsible or likely to cause serious or widespread offence”.
In its submission to the ASA, the Daily Star argued it presented the models as celebrities and the prize was no different to winning a personal appearance with other male or female celebrities.
It also argued that readers of the newspaper and users of their website would not find the ad offensive as 66% of the newspaper’s audience were male and had an average age of 48, while 77% of users of its website were male and 71% were under the age of 45.
However, the ASA said the job of a Page 3 girl “was based on women’s attractiveness”. It argued “the prize would be enjoyed or envied on the basis of the women’s attractiveness rather than because of their personality or other non-physical qualities”.
It also noted that the ad said the prize was a visit from “one of our babes” and “two of our top Page 3 girls”, rather than from specific individuals. The ASA said “the implication was that it did not matter which individual models would be visiting the winner and that the women were presented as interchangeable”.
