A Swedish ad campaign that broke in May for H&M featuring Brazilian model Isabeli Fontana has been scolded this week by Reklamombudsmannen (aka, RO), Sweden's version of Britain's Ad Standards Authority, but not for the reason you might think. Well, not entirely for that reason. While there were complaints that the ad is too sexy and the model is too thin, one of the chief complainants was the Swedish Cancer Society, which said Fontana's dark skin tone promotes "an ideal of beauty that is life-threatening." In other words, she's too tan. RO even brushed aside the usual complaints about visual innuendo to focus on Fontana's tan, ruling that the ad was "designed without a due sense of social and professional responsibility" because too much sun exposure is a cancer risk. Weird stance to take, but H&M played it safe and apologized. "We are very sorry if anyone has been upset by our latest swimwear campaign," the brand said in a statement. "It has not been our intention to show a specific ideal or to encourage a harmful behavior." More images from the campaign after the jump.
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