An advert for an AI video editing tool which said it could “erase anything” – implying users could remove a woman’s clothing – has been banned.
The advertising regulator found the YouTube ad for PixVideo – AI Video Maker, seen in January, showing “before” and “after” images of a young woman, the first with a red scribble over her midriff and the second revealing her bare skin, was offensive.
Text across the bottom of the image said it could “erase anything”, followed by a heart-eye emoji.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled the advert was “irresponsible, included a harmful gender stereotype and was likely to cause serious offence”.
The decision came after eight people complained to the ASA that the ad sexualised and objectified women, and was irresponsible, offensive and harmful.
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.
The company 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.
It added it had automated AI-based detection and blocking to prevent exposed or explicit imagery from being generated.
The tech firm said it had removed the ad and voluntarily suspended all advertising to carry out a “comprehensive” internal audit and fix the marketing.
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The ASA acknowledged that the app did not permit users to create nude or sexually explicit content, but found the ad reduced the woman to a sexual object.
It said: “Furthermore, because the ad implied that viewers could use an app to remove a woman’s clothing, we considered it condoned digitally altering and exposing women’s bodies without their consent.
“We welcomed Saeta Techs’ willingness to remove the ad. However, for the reasons above, we considered that the ad was irresponsible, included a harmful gender stereotype and was likely to cause serious offence.”
The ASA ruled that the ad must not appear again.
“We told PixVideo – AI Video Maker to ensure that their ads were socially responsible and did not cause serious or widespread offence, including by featuring a harmful gender stereotype by objectifying and sexualising women,” the ASA added.
