Skinny models are a 'turn off' in advertising, claim scientists
By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent

It has been a golden rule of advertising from its inception - thin models sell more products to women. The only trouble is, it is not true, claims new research.

Researchers have found that skinny models are actually a turn off to consumers in TV commercials and other advertising.

They found that images of super-thin models carry no edge in encouraging young women to buy and for the majority of adult women ads showing skinny girls actually discouraged sales.

So-called plus-size models, on the other hand, actually encouraged them to buy.

In the study psychologist Phillippa Diedrichs, of the University of Queensland, Australia, created a series of ads for underwear, shampoo and a party dress.

Each ad was made twice, once using a skinny size eight model and another featuring a size 12 woman.

When the ads were shown to 400 young women, they produced no difference in the likelihood for them to buy.

However, when women aged between 18 and 25 saw the adverts they felt better - and more likely to buy - after viewing the images of the larger models.

Miss Diedrichs said: "For anything to change, research has to be convincing, not just to government and health researchers, but also to people in advertising who actually make the decisions.

"Often people make the argument that thinness sells, and that's why they use slim models.

"But we can change the images we see and still sell products but also make people feel better about themselves."

The Unilever soap brand Dove has based its image on a campaign using "real women" and highlighting how much imagery in advertising is manipulated.

But critics point out that the same firm uses more traditional imagery to promote other brands, such as Lynx deodorant, which features skinny models.

There have been concerted campaigns against the ultra-thin "size zero" with fashion weeks in Madrid and Milan banning models from the catwalk who were of a weight deemed unhealthy by the Body Mass Index measure.