An advertisement for the AI video editing tool PixVideo - AI Video Maker has been banned by the UK Advertising Standards Authority, according to the ASA. The banned PixVideo advertisement was a YouTube ad seen in January showing 'before' and 'after' images of a young woman, with the first image having a red scribble over her midriff and the second revealing her bare skin, as described in the ad. The text in the PixVideo advertisement said it could 'erase anything' followed by a heart-eye emoji, based on the ad content. The ASA ruled that the PixVideo advertisement was 'irresponsible, included a harmful gender stereotype and was likely to cause serious offence', per the ASA's statement. Eight people complained to the ASA that the PixVideo advertisement sexualised and objectified women, and was irresponsible, offensive and harmful, according to the complaints.
Saeta Tech Ltd, trading as PixVideo - AI Video Maker, said it understood why the ad was considered likely to cause serious offence, but the concerns related to the advert's presentation and messaging rather than the intended or permitted use of the product, as stated by the company. Saeta Tech Ltd said its terms prohibited the creation of nude or sexually explicit content, and the app did not support, and was not designed to enable, the removal of clothing or the creation of nude imagery, according to the company. Saeta Tech Ltd said it had automated AI-based detection and blocking to prevent exposed or explicit imagery from being generated, as claimed by the company. Saeta Tech Ltd said it had removed the PixVideo advertisement and voluntarily suspended all advertising to carry out a comprehensive internal audit and fix the marketing, per the company's statement.
The ASA acknowledged that the PixVideo app did not permit users to create nude or sexually explicit content, but found the ad reduced the woman to a sexual object, according to the ASA's ruling. The ASA ruled that the PixVideo advertisement must not appear again, per the ASA's decision.
Lidl and Iceland have become the first companies to have ads banned after the introduction of UK rules cracking down on the marketing of junk food, as reported by the ASA. The ASA has been policing the ban on ads featuring junk food on TV before 9pm, and in paid online advertising at any time of the day, since 5 January, according to the ASA. On Wednesday the ASA said ads from Lidl and Iceland that appeared on Instagram and the Daily Mail website had broken the new rules, which prohibit items deemed high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) from being promoted, per the ASA's announcement. The new rules on junk food advertising are part of the UK government's effort to tackle rising childhood obesity, as stated in government policy.
Lidl Northern Ireland paid influencer Emma Kearney (known online as Baby Emzo) to create an Instagram post promoting the supermarket's bakery products, including pain suisse, according to the ad details. A complainant to the ASA said the Lidl ad featured a 'less healthy' food product (pain suisse) that broke the UK rules, per the complaint. Lidl said the ad was intended to be 'brand-led' but accepted that it did promote a banned individual product, as stated by the company.
Iceland Foods ran a digital display and banner ad on the Daily Mail website promoting products including Swizzels Sweet Treats, Chupa Chups Laces, Choose Disco Stix and Haribo Elf Surprises, according to the ad. Under the new advertising rules, chocolates and sweets fail the nutrient profiling model and are classified as an HFSS product, or 'less healthy' food, which cannot be advertised, per the rules. Iceland said that while it asked for nutrient profile information from all of its suppliers, it was 'aware of gaps' in the data provided, as stated by the company. Iceland has hired a data provider to compile nutritional information on all products on the Iceland website on a monthly basis, to catch all products classed as 'less healthy', but in this case the ads had appeared on the Daily Mail website, according to Iceland.
The ASA upheld the complaints and banned the Iceland and Lidl ads, per the ASA's ruling. The specific penalties or fines, if any, imposed on PixVideo, Lidl, and Iceland for the banned advertisements have not been disclosed. It is also unclear how many complaints were filed against the Lidl and Iceland advertisements specifically, or what the total number of advertisements the ASA has banned under the new junk food rules since 5 January is. Saeta Tech Ltd has not detailed what specific changes it will make to its marketing after the internal audit, and the effectiveness of the automated AI-based detection and blocking systems it claims to have in preventing explicit content generation remains unverified.