A London Underground advertisement featuring Khloe Kardashian has been cleared for use following complaints that the promotion was "socially irresponsible."
The Protein World poster showed the reality star wearing a leotard and leg warmers alongside the text: "Can you keep up with a Kardashian? Take The Protein World 30 Day Challenge".
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 14 complaints, the BBC reports, amid widespread outrage on social media. On Twitter, many commuters said the poster endorsed an unhealthy approach to dieting. Others accused the brand of heavily Photoshopping the image of Kardashian.
Speaking to The Evening Standard, Green Assembly member Caroline Russell, who received complaints from her constituents, said it gave a "negative message" to young people. "People taking the tube should not have to be bombarded with adverts that imply their bodies aren't good enough," Russell added.
But Protein World told the ASA that the Kardashian campaign was both motivating and empowering and it understood that Transport For London was satisfied the image met regulations.
Clearing the advert, the authority said it "promoted Khloe Kardashian's body image as desirable and aspirational."
The ASA added: "We acknowledged that the use of the terms 'Can you keep up with ... ' and 'challenge' could be interpreted as having a competitive quality, but we did not consider that the terms or the ads overall encouraged excessive weight loss or other extreme or potentially harmful dieting behaviour. We therefore concluded the ads were not socially irresponsible."
The body-shaming debate sparked by Protein World comes after the firm's 2015 ad campaign, which asked "are you beach body ready?" sparked hundreds of complaints. Following a petition which received over 70,000 signatures, it was eventually banned by the advertising watchdog because of "concerns" over its weight loss claims.
