British Authority bans ads for ‘Irresponsible’ Velform Corset

What a waist of time.

A British commercial showing women using a corset to get “sexy, tiny” tummies has been banned for being “irresponsible.”

The Advertising Standards Authority responded to consumer complaints that the ad for the Velform Mini Waist pushed an unhealthy and unrealistic body image by pitching a product that squeezes the waist “so small that you’ll be everyone’s envy.”

The agency banned the ad from airing again in its current form, and ruled that future infomercials for the corset cannot imply that a small waist was desirable and that women should aspire to a certain figure.

“We considered it was irresponsible to imply that a very small waist should be aspired to and that all women should aim for that figure,” the authority wrote in its response.

It was “concerned” that some shots showed women compressing their waists to appear “extremely small” in order to get the idealized silhouette seen on celebrities on the red carpet and in magazines.

The Shop Channel UK had argued that the $41 corset was a “temporary way” for shoppers to see a slimming effect, and that the ad “did not specify any specific levels of tightness” in wearing the constrictive garment.

It also claimed that viewers were not encouraged to use the Velform Mini Waist in lieu of healthier lean means, such as diet or exercise, and insisted the ad did not suggest women were less desirable without the product.