Advert for tights showing woman's bare back banned on the Tube by TfL for being 'overtly sexual'

'She’s a dancer, she’s full of life and agility'

Hesit are unable to understand what about the bare back of a female dancer is supposed to be arousing

An advert for a tights company has been banned on the London Underground for showing a woman’s naked back.

The image in question features a dancer leaping into the air, facing away from the camera, wearing just a pair of tights.

But, while she is clearly topless, there is nothing sexual about the image nor can you see anything appropriate.

Despite this, TFL deemed the advert as ‘overtly sexual’ and asked Heist to superimpose a boob tube, or similar, to the woman’s body.

Stepping to the advert’s defence, Ellie Howard, Heist’s head of community, told Metro, “We don’t believe that the advert is offensive in any way. We were asked to darken the image around the dancer’s bottom for more coverage, which we were happy to do.

“But we do not understand why it is ‘overtly sexual’ to show a woman’s back.”

Part of the reason the reason for the strict rules when it comes to advertising is because of Sadiq Khan’s pledge to ban any ads that might cause body confidence issues on the London Underground. A move which followed Protein World’s infamous “Are you beach body ready?” campaign in 2015.

As such, TFL’s guidelines state that an image will be rejected if “the advertisement depicts men, women or children in a sexual manner or displays nude or semi-nude figures in an overtly sexual context.”

However, Hesit are unable to understand what about the bare back of a female dancer is supposed to be arousing.

“We wanted to show a woman’s body in and empowering way. She’s a dancer, she’s full of life and agility,” Howard continued.

“If we’re not allowed to show women in their underwear without it being in a sexual context, how are we ever going to present an alternative representation of women?”