Hailee Steinfeld Miu Miu Ad Banned By ASA (PHOTOS, POLL)

OK, the ASA needs to cool it.

We were on board when UK's Advertising Standards Authority banned the presence of racy ads near elementary schools. We understood when the agency put the kibosh on these clothing ads featuring a super skinny, anorexic-looking model.

But banning this Hailee Steinfeld Miu Miu ad? We just don't get it.

According to the Telegraph, UK's heavy-handed advertising watchdog deemed the adorable Miu Miu spot "irresponsible" for featuring a child sitting in "an unsafe location" i.e. railroad tracks.

Um, what?

The Bruce Weber-lensed campaign, which debuted in July, shows 14-year-old Hailee goofing around outside -- lying in the grass, standing on some rocks and, yes, chilling out on some rail road tracks.

But we're pretty sure those are abandoned, out-of-service tracks... and that the ad is fake. Make-believe. Pretend.

Someone should tell the ASA that a fashionable little girl did not just wander unwittingly onto the tracks, not realizing that a train might come and kill her. She sat down, posed and then got up and left. And we are almost 100 percent sure that in doing so, she did not encourage other 14-year-olds to go play on train tracks.

But hey, maybe we're not taking this thing seriously enough. What do you think: is showing a kid posing on train tracks dangerous?

While you are contemplating the absurdity of it all, peruse the rest of Hailee's Miu Miu campaign below. Isn't she precious?

Quick Poll

Is Miu Miu's ad irresponsible?

DEFINITELY. Kids seeing this might think it's OK to hang out on railroad tracks.

NO WAY. What are they going to ban next -- ads with people crossing the street without looking both ways?

Share your vote on Facebook so your friends can take this poll

Comments

[EastCstOlsenGrl]

02:46 PM on 08/25/2012

some people like to hang out around tracks and don't equate such things with suicide.

[howard holmes]

10:15 AM on 12/11/2011

Anonymous Mon, Nov 28, 2011, 11:37 AM
This has to be the most jaw-droppingly stupid thing I've heard in a while...OK, that's not really a word but the faux-word isn't as stupid as the Brit council. Maybe they photographed her on a train track because the lines and angles are interesting, hmmm? Because the colors go beautifully with the dress? Because it makes you zoom right in to the focus of the picture? Morons. It's a really pretty picture. Never once did I think "suicide." Anything can be a Rorschach test if you want it to be. Cretins. It sounds like something Americans (which I am) would do, but I guess the Brits want to be just as stupid? At some point, personal accountability has to take over. At some point, the individual has to take responsibility for his or her own actions. You can't legislate morality (thanks, Lillian Hellman) and you can legislate common sense, either.

[howard holmes]

10:15 AM on 12/11/2011

hmm Mon, Nov 28, 2011, 10:10 AM
if a kid looks at this and it pushed them to commit suicide then they have bad parents. kids these days are emotional wrecks. it's time we stopped using surrogates like tv and put the blame where it belongs: ON THE PARENTS for not talking to and paying attention to their children

MisterPL Mon, Nov 28, 2011, 10:11 AM
If this image inspires anyone to commit suicide, I don't want them in the gene pool anyway.

Zee Mon, Nov 28, 2011, 11:03 AM
Ignorance and stupidity at its finest...there was no need to ban the ad.

[howard holmes]

10:15 AM on 12/11/2011

Thank goodness, some people left in the world aren't stupid.

English Mon, Nov 28, 2011, 8:35 AM
I am English and live in England, this country is getting more and more ridiculous every day.

Dan Mon, Nov 28, 2011, 9:15 AM
If you're that much of a moron to take action from a harmless photo, perhaps you should commit suicide... Geezus, your intelligence factor has to be several notches below the general population, and it may time for you to excuse yourself from the human race. YES, there are definitely SOME PEOPLE with TOO MUCH TIME on their hands. * of teens hit by trains? Are you serious?

Liz Mon, Nov 28, 2011, 9:19 AM
When I first saw the photo I guessed they banned it for showing a teen in an unsafe location, but suicide never entered my mind. I think we are going too far in trying to protect our kids from everything that might be unsafe; it's resulting in breeding common sense OUT of the human race.

Lola Mon, Nov 28, 2011, 9:21 AM
Might as well not advertise anything related to fashion in Britain since people are so apprehensive and thick headed to understand the concept of art in fashion.

[tynghedfen]

03:15 AM on 12/02/2011

With everything else going on that does stretch the law to it's breaking point, this is what they are going to focus on?

[Andrea Hevesi]

12:33 AM on 11/29/2011

The problem is the child, not the location

[MenagerieNik]

12:20 AM on 11/29/2011

The photo on the railroad tracks made me think of suicide. That is a bit dicey considering the age of the model, but hardly something that should be banned. Having a young girl dress up like a middle-aged woman is stupid to begin with. The railroad tracks are the least of the problems with the ad campaign. I fail to see how it sells any clothes at all.

[dru]

10:51 PM on 11/28/2011

I don't like censorship but I don't think 14 year olds belong in fashion ads, either. If this group deems the ad irresponsible, fine with me. It does depict a sad little girl sitting in a dangerous place...Is she suicidal? Does it matter since she is wearing expensive clothes? Maybe I just don't appreciate this concept... "depression-chic" ?(heroin is so last decade). Yes, it is make believe, but it portrays unsafe childish behavior that happens in real life. Fine for a picture-call it art and hang it on your wall, sell it, put it in a show- all art doesn't have "the right" to run as an advertisement. (My opinion is probably partly due to the fact that I lost a classmate to a train in high school. He saved a girl by pushing her out of the way, but didn't get himself out of the way in time. I know they didn't get up that morning planning on getting killed- they were goofing off and chilling out)

[MountPanic]

10:20 PM on 11/28/2011

"Coming up tonight on the BBC; Stand By Me, from 8 to 8:10pm..."

[Ryan Schmitt]

11:22 AM on 11/30/2011

That was my exact same thought!!! Are they going to ban the bridge scene now?

[Caryn Banker]

08:37 PM on 11/28/2011

Well, I don't know if this ad is going to entice teenagers to dress up in grandma's old office clothes and totter out to sit on railroad tracks, but this photo is just not working for me. Nice color palate, and she is a lovely young girl, the clothes are fantastic for someone my age (50), but it does not pull together. Shame, I'm pretty sure they spend a great deal of time and money styling these ads. IMHO, this one is just 'off' and not in a good way.

[teachyourself]

05:59 PM on 11/28/2011

I don't see a problem with banning this ad (depicting a teenager) in the UK as many disused rail lines are being recommissioned and trains are much more dangerous than many would like to think. To put this ad in a UK centered perspective (courtesy of a UK transport engineer).

A train traveling at 60 mph takes 3/4 of a mile to stop. At a typical train speed of 75 mph, that is closer to a mile or more. Read this week in the news...http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-15854394

At 120 mph, a train would take nearly 3 miles to stop. The east coast mainline runs at 125mph. Check out what happened to this teenage girl last week...http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-15863264

Also, third rail lines in the UK are electricfied. You can easily be electrocuted just by touching them.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10640569
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-14013794
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1270008/Schoolboy-14-electrocuted-stepping-rail-line-pick-cigarette-lighter.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1205468/Boy-13-electrocuted-rail-depot-touching-25-000-volt-cable.html

I could go on, but depicting kids on rail tracks in the UK isn't cool or stylish and it's the ASA's job to do just what it's done.

[Sudro Brown]

05:52 PM on 11/28/2011

Those are NOT "abandoned, out-of-service tracks." From the photo, it appears to be a well maintained, active rail line (fresh, recently graded ballast, cleared greenery on either side, shiny railheads). A train moving at speed would likely not be audible until it was very, very close and even a short passenger train would require about a quarter mile to stop completely. Someone sitting on the tracks like that could easily be surprised by a train.

I'm not usually one for banning ads for whatever reason, but this image is actually very irresponsible and Miu Miu should known that before shooting it.

[cm86]

05:32 PM on 11/28/2011

People here are saying the watchdogs are going to extremes, and yet people here are speaking of burka's and of a "Big Brother" type world. It's so funny...

People really need to read what they write before posting.

[Sabra Bruning]

04:21 PM on 11/28/2011

I see absolutely zero wrong with Hailee's ads.

(And I am the most conservative, anal-retentive,
prudish, OCD, positively Victorian throw-back on Earth.)

There's alot worse out there!

[theexitistotheleft]

04:11 PM on 11/28/2011

while it is a pretty good shot ... in the us it would be "technically illegal" as the railroads conciser this criminal trespass. No really!