Jaded London’s ‘no visible smoke’ defence doesn’t convince the ASA

Pink backless mini dress, lit cigarette, and according to Jaded London’s own marketing email, an “aspirational holiday lifestyle.” The Advertising Standards Authority looked at the same image and saw something rather less aspirational, ruling the ad breached the CAP code and banning it outright.

The email went out on 27 May, and the complaint that followed argued the streetwear brand had glamorised smoking, whether the brand meant it that way or not. The ASA sided with the complaint. Their statement didn’t hold back either, calling the image “heavily stylised” and finding it presented the model in “a fashionable and attractive manner,” which, paired with a lit cigarette, tipped the whole thing into what they termed irresponsible glamorisation.

Jaded London’s defence was, to put it kindly, a stretch. The brand argued it wasn’t actually clear the model was holding a cigarette at all, since there was no visible smoke in the shot. Whether that argument landed anywhere with the ASA is fairly obvious from the outcome, but the brand did agree to drop cigarette imagery from future campaigns, which is more than some brands manage after a ruling like this.

Founded in 2013, Jaded London has built genuine reach since then, Taylor Swift and Rihanna have both worn the label, and it sits on shelves at Selfridges, Asos and Flannels, hardly a fringe operation cutting corners on compliance. The CAP code line the ASA leaned on is a broad one, marketing has to be prepared “with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society,” language vague enough to cover a huge range of rulings, but specific enough this time to land squarely on one cigarette, one dress, one email.

Drapers has approached Jaded London for further comment.