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Advert 'did not discredit Stella McCartney fashion brand'

Pa
Wednesday 15 September 2010 09:22 BST
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Designer Stella McCartney has lost an advertising complaint after her fashion brand was named in a promotion for personal hygiene products, a watchdog said today.

The magazine and online ads for Bodyform offered a prize of Stella McCartney underwear, but stated that the offer was "not in association with Stella McCartney".

Stella McCartney Ltd complained that the ad was denigratory and took unfair advantage of the brand because it associated it with a personal hygiene product without permission.

Defending the ad, SCA Hygiene Products (SCA) said the ad made no explicit or implied comparison with McCartney's brand, adding that the company "could not imagine that readers would consider that SCA were attacking Stella McCartney by simply offering their product as a prize".

SCA said it was customary for sales promotions to refer to the products of other manufacturers as prizes without obtaining permission.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said SCA was not required to obtain approval before offering the underwear as a prize, and said the ad was unlikely to be seen by readers as discrediting the fashion line.

Rejecting the complaint, the ASA said: "We therefore concluded that the ad did not take unfair advantage of the Stella McCartney brand by referring to it without permission and was therefore unlikely to be interpreted as denigratory."

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