An advertisement for a cosmetic surgery clinic has been found to be in breach of the advertising standards code.
The ad for the Cosmedico clinic broadcast on TV3 was one of seven against which the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) upheld complaints.
It featured an image of a naked woman with her breasts covered by her arm and a voiceover asked viewers to "invest in yourself for a change and work with the best surgeons in Ireland".
The complainant believed the advertisement was being run very early in the day, meaning it was being viewed by a broad audience.
The complainant suggested that due to the youth of the model used in the advertisement, its main purpose was to promote breast surgery.
She believed this was particularly unsuitable for viewing for young people like her 14-year-old daughter or other children.
The advertisers contended the ad had been running in the same time slot since May 2011 without any complaints, and that it had successfully passed through TV3's vetting service before it was aired.
They argued the model used in the ad was "not suggesting anything" as she neither spoke nor communicated in it. In addition, they pointed out that the model was about 28 years of age.
Cosmedico argued that young girls were viewing "much more suggestive ads than this one" and suggested that weight issues rather than the size of their breasts was an issue for young women.
It said it did not perform surgery on underage patients unless they had undergone a trauma and had parental consent. In any case, it did not perform surgery on anyone under 18.
The complaints committee of the ASAI considered that the use of a young model in the ad suggested she was an appropriate candidate for cosmetic surgery. It also pointed out that legally, and for the purpose of the advertising code, a child was someone under 18.
It decided, however, that special care must be taken when promoting invasive surgical procedures and that the ad was in breach of section 2.2 of the code. This states that marketing communications should be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society.
Other complaints upheld included one against Ryanair, which carried an ad on its website and in the press with one of its ‘calendar girls’ dressed in briefs and a bra with a top hat to the side of her hair. The ad was headed: 'Red Hot Fares & Crew.'
Eleven complaints were received about the campaign, from consumers in Ireland, Belgium, Spain and the UK.
They considered the ad to be offensive, degrading, demeaning and sexist. One complainant said it denigrated the image of women, rendering them to mere objects.
An Irish consumer objected to its placement in a free newspaper, where it was likely to be seen by children.
Ryanair did not respond to the ASAI’s invitation to comment on the complaints. The complaints committee acknowledged that the image used was of a particular cabin crew member featured on the Ryanair charity calendar.
"Notwithstanding this, they considered the image was provocative and had been used merely to attract attention," the report said.
The standards authority reminded Ryanair that it was "not acceptable to use provocative images to sell unrelated products such as airline seats".
Complaints were also upheld against a Robert Roberts ad for the PomeGreat Pure Plus product, for making unsubstantiated claims about its health effects, and against the Dublin Mint Office for its advertising of a 'Pure Gold Half Crown', which implied that the product was the same size as an old Irish or UK half crown prior to decimalisation.
A complaint against Sky Ireland was also upheld for a reference to sports coverage on ESPN. The complainant had objected to the marketing information on Sky's website regarding ESPN and football coverage of the UEFA Europa League. Irish consumers could not view this league on ESPN via Sky Sports due to airing rights.