The Mental Health Foundation wrote to ITV saying the ads "painted a false picture of perfection" and "exacerbated young people’s insecurities"
Campaign groups have welcomed a decision to review the showing of plastic surgery ads during the popular Love Island series.
The Mental Health Foundation wrote to ITV saying the ads "painted a false picture of perfection" and "exacerbated young people’s insecurities".
It also wrote to the Advertising Standards Authority and the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport outlining its concerns.
Feminist activists also complained, mentioning the prevalence of ads for diet pills.
Now ITV chief executive Carolyn McCall has said the ads will be reviewed and possible pulled.
She told BBC Breakfast: “There were a tiny number of ads where I would have thought the juxtaposition was not quite right so we’re very sensitive to that.
“We are highly regulated. We’re regulated for advertising content and for all our content, so we have done nothing wrong. It’s more about about our judgment, so we are monitoring and working on that.
“We are looking at that and we will take our own action.”
Isabella Goldie, director of development and delivery ate the Mental Health Foundation, said: "We welcome ITV’s decision to review the advertising of cosmetic surgery during the programme Love Island following pressure from a number of organisations including our own. We’re grateful to ITV’s CEO Carolyn McCall for engaging on this matter and agree with her recent statement that the juxtaposition of the adverts and the programme was 'not quite right'.
"Our research shows that almost half of young people aged 18-24 have felt so stressed by body image and appearance that they have felt overwhelmed or unable to cope. We believe that pressure around body image is a root cause of mental ill health in young people and the time has come to tackle it head on.
"Capitalising on our young people’s insecurities for commercial gain is wholly unacceptable. We all have a role to play in strengthening our young people’s resilience. We therefore hope that ITV’s review will lead to a clear decision that such adverts will not be strategically placed in the same way again."
Carys Afoko of the feminist campaign group Level Up said: “ITV is right to listen to concerns about the harmful impact of diet and surgery adverts on viewers’ mental health.
“Thousands of Level Up supporters sent personal messages to ITV about the harm these adverts cause. We are delighted they have listened and are taking responsibility.”
