Facebook Apologizes for Banning an Ad Featuring a Plus-Sized Model

Facebook has said it’s sorry for pulling an ad with a plus-sized model and saying that her photo depicts “body parts in an undesirable manner”.

Cherchez la Femme is an Australian group with a focus on pop culture and feminism talk shows, and they’ve been trying to get the word out for their new body-positivity event: “Feminism and Fat.” The group prepared an online ad featuring plus-sized Tess Holliday, but Facebook rejected their ad because it “violates Facebook’s Ad Guidelines.”

“Ads like these are not allowed since they make viewers feel bad about themselves,” a representative said on the site’s Health and Fitness policy. “Instead, we recommend using an image of a relevant activity, like running or riding a bike.”

Cherchez was quite upset by the censorship, and they published several posts blasting “body-shaming” and asked followers to “join us in our disgust.” In the end, Facebook reversed course and said the ban was a moment of incorrect prohibition.

“This image does not violate our ad policies,” the company said according to Fortune. “We apologize for the error and have let the advertiser know we are approving their ad.”

You can watch a report on the story in the video above, via CNBC, and you can look below to see Cherchez’s ad, now posted on their page.

[Image via Cherchez la Femme]

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