Why the Jack Wills catalogue is too sexy for its own good

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which makes sure companies stick by strict ad rules, upheld a complaint about some of the company’s underwear ads being ‘sexually suggestive’. Not only has Jack Wills had one of its ads banned, it will now print an age warning when it sends out catalogues.

Jack Wills

The pictures of models in their underwear drinking, dancing, lounging on a bed and (somewhat implausibly for a student) reading a newspaper and drinking sophisticated coffees led to one person complaining that the images were “unsuitable for publication in a clothing catalogue that was targeted at, and seen by, teenagers."

The complaint had less to do with the models' appetite for coffee and current affairs and might have something to do with the fact one of the pages of the catalogue included the claim that the undies were 'made for the morning after the night before.'

Jack Wills

Jack Wills says its brand is targeted at 18 to 24-year-old university students and not at younger teenagers. It also said the catalogue was addressed and sent to the woman who complained, not her children, and was delivered in a sealed, opaque envelope.

Jack Wills said the pages showed a group of friends enjoying a ‘weekend away, relaxing with each other and enjoying a pyjama party’. What 18 to 24-year-old doesn't love an innocent relaxing pyjama party, eh?

They also said the images were not “sexualised, provocative and did not imply sexual activity in any way,” as the images did not feature any nudity and that none of the clothes worn by the models were transparent.

It isn’t the first time the company has had its wrist slapped for a come-to-bed catalogue shoot. In 2011, 19 people complained about four full-page ads in The Spring Term Handbook which were banned for the same reason.

Jack Wills

At the time, Jack Wills billed itself as ‘University Outfitters’ and said it drew inspiration from 'the hedonistic university lifestyle'. The company said its marketing meant to "project a positive, fun and sometimes flirtatious" reflection of student life and that people who signed up to the handbook were over 18. An online film advertising the handbook carried a warning that it contained scenes of a sexual nature, although the catalogue, which sent readers to the video, did not.

According to the ASA, in this year’s ad, it was the escalation of the images which was the problem. The group in the catalogue goes from drinking and dancing while fully-clothed, to dancing and drinking in their underwear, followed by a shot of a woman holding a drink and a man next to a bed and a woman in a bra and pyjama shorts brushing her teeth while sitting facing the camera with her legs apart. You do the math.

Jack Wills told that ASA that even if the claims were to be interpreted as a double entendre, it did not believe that it could be construed as overly sexual or encouraging underage sexual activity.

The company said it would, in future, make it clear that consumers were required to be over the age of 18 to receive their correspondence by printing 'Please note: You need to be over 18 years old to sign up for Jack Wills correspondence' on the opaque envelope its printed catalogue was distributed in.

So where do we draw the line on sexually suggestive material? Are these pics to racy for innocent eyes or do you think they might have seen a lot worse? Let us know at watchdog@bbc.co.uk.

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This article was first published on Wednesday June 1st, 2016