Italy advertising body bans anorexic woman picture

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's advertising watchdog has decided to ban a photograph of a naked anorexic woman used to highlight the illness while promoting a fashion brand.

The IAP self-regulatory watchdog said the picture, shot by controversial Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani, did not conform to its code of conduct.

The shocking image appeared in newspapers and on billboards during Milan fashion week in September with the words "No Anorexia", and the name of advertising fashion group Flash&Partners' clothing brand Nolita.

The pictures had already been taken down from billboards in Milan, though one remains in Rome.

Specifically, the IAP said the campaign contravened article one of its code which calls for 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."

Toscani, who once photographed a man dying of AIDS for a campaign for clothing group Benetton, called the move "censorship".

"I am deciding whether to take action to seek moral and economic damages," he told Reuters, saying the decision was taken by a "private corporation and not an official judge."

"The health minister said the campaign went well. Who should I listen to -- the health minister or a private justice corporation? It is late when the campaign is already done."

The Nolita campaign had received backing from the Ministry of Health, with Minister Livia Turco saying it could "promote responsibility towards the problem of anorexia."

There was no immediate comment from the health minister.

Flash&Partners said Toscani's aim was "to use that naked body to show everyone the reality of this illness, caused in most cases by the stereotypes imposed by the world of fashion."

But Italy's Association for the Study of Anorexia said the image was "too crude."

Models' weight became a hot topic after two Latin American models died of anorexia last year. Critics say fashion's obsession with waif-like frames leads young women to dislike their bodies.

Milan responded by barring under-age and ultra-skinny models at its fashion shows.