Boob job tourism advert is banned
A poster promoting breast enlargement trips to Malaysia has been banned by advertisting standards officials.
The poster by the Medical Tourism Association appeared in the female toilets in several motorway service stations and shopping centres in the UK.
It said: "Did you know … ‘Boob job’ is the most popular cosmetic procedure for women", with simple visuals that conveyed that it was a procedure for breast enlargement.
It then stated: "Malaysia is proud to be amongst one of the only countries within the region where medical tourism is promoted by the government.
"Hence medical tourists can have the assurance of quality care and be guided by the regulation, safety standards and the governing laws within this industry. Our private hospitals bagged 3 out of 9 awards at the international Medical Travel Awards 2014."
But the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) was called in to investigate after a complaint that the advert was socially irresponsible because it trivialised cosmetic surgery by suggesting it could be incorporated into a holiday.
In its defence, the media space buyer Admedia said the ad had not advertised a holiday due to the absence of pricing, tourist or accommodation information, nor did it include an option to sign-up for a cosmetic procedure.
It argued that the ad was informative and promoted safety and high standards, demonstrated by examples of internationally recognised awards.
But the ASA ruled that although the ad was not likely to be interpreted as promoting a holiday, ‘because the overall emphasis of the ad, the wording and visuals, focused on the intervention, followed by an encouragement to undertake breast augmentation abroad it was likely to detract from the seriousness of the surgery offered’.
"We considered that could be interpreted as suggesting that surgery was a decision that could be undertaken lightly, without serious consideration of the nature of the intervention," the ASA explained.
It found the ad breached the code for responsible advertising and ruled that it should not appear again in its current form.
"We told the Medical Tourism Association to ensure they did not trivialise or undermine the seriousness of cosmetic surgery by implying it was a straightforward and risk-free procedure that could be incorporated into travel abroad," it added.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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