'Sexist' Page Three date ad banned after complaints
A tabloid newspaper advert that offered a date with a woman as a competition prize has been banned for being sexist, offensive and socially irresponsible.
The Daily Star's website ad was headed "Win a date with a Daily Star Page 3 babe! It's a cold miserable winter out there - but as ever your fun-loving Daily Star knows just how to brighten up your lives."
How the Daily Star captioned its advert for readers to "win a date":
"The girls are desperate to meet you"
"Who could turn down the chance to meet one of our babes"
"We'll fix it for two of our top Page 3 girls to visit your workplace on a date of your choice so you can get to know them"
"Just think how chuffed your workmates will be to learn you have bagged them this prize"
The Advertising Standards Authority received 31 complaints, including one from the campaign group Object, that the prize was sexist and objectified women, and therefore offensive and socially irresponsible.
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The ASA noted that the ad referred to the Star Babes as a "sizzling prize" and suggested that their visit to the winner's workplace would bring the approval of their colleagues for "bagging them this prize".
It ruled that the ads must not appear again in their current form, adding: "We told the Daily Star to ensure that their future advertising contained nothing that was socially irresponsible or likely to cause serious or widespread offence."
In November the ASA banned an ad for The Sun newspaper's Dream Team fantasy football competition for offering the "sexist and offensive" prize of a date with a page three girl.
Express Newspapers, trading as the Daily Star, said their female editor prided herself on their "Star Babes" being portrayed as "three-dimensional women" and provided copies of four articles published in the paper to illustrate their point.
One article gave brief details of the careers of models who were the wives or girlfriends of England footballers and provided advice on how to become a "Star Babe", two were photo-diary style features about page three shoots in Portugal and one featured five women posing in the same see-through dress and giving their opinions of it.