Agency Spy

The billboards and print ads for Italian fashion brand Nolita featuring an anorexic woman have been banned. The IAP said that the picture campaign violated their code that “advertising to be honest, truthful and correct and article 10 which states it must not offend moral, civil and religious beliefs and respect human dignity in all its forms and expressions.” The photographer, Italian Oliviero Toscani, called the move censorship. The legendary Toscani is no stranger to controversy. One of his most well-known ads was for Benetton and featured David Kirby, a dying AIDS activist, surrounded by members of his grieving family (see below). The campaign had received backing from the Ministry of Health. Minister Livia Turco said that the ad could “promote responsibility towards the problem of anorexia.”