Ad description
A paid-for TikTok ad for the mobile app SoulTalk, seen in January 2026, featured five AI-generated images of female characters appearing to have their mouths open. The images were cropped, which meant it was not possible to see what the characters were doing in full. Another character’s hands were on their heads in some of the images. Text stated, “Airdrop. AI assistant wants to send you a photo”. There was an “accept” and a “decline” button below. A caption stated, “24/7 chat about whatever you want”.
Issue
The complainant, who believed that the ad sexualised and objectified women, challenged whether the ad was offensive and promoted a harmful gender stereotype.
Response
Optimize Business Ltd t/a SoulTalk did not respond to the ASA’s enquiries.Assessment
The ASA was concerned by the lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code by Optimize Business Ltd t/a SoulTalk, which was a breach of CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.7 (Unreasonable delay). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.
Upheld
The CAP Code stated that ads must not include gender stereotypes that were likely to cause harm, or serious or widespread offence, and must be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and society.
The ad was for an AI chatbot and featured AI-generated images of female characters who appeared to have their mouth open around an object which was cropped out of view. Some of the female characters also had another character’s hands on their head. The ASA considered that, although the images were cropped, they were presented in a way which strongly implied that the female characters were engaging in a sexual act. We considered the combination of the poses, framing and the repeated use of multiple images meant viewers were likely to understand the content as sexual in nature.
We considered the “Airdrop … accept/decline” framing presented the images as unsolicited sexual content being offered to the viewer, and that the “accept” and “decline” buttons invited viewers to engage with that sexualised content. We considered that approach treated the women depicted as content to be selected and used, rather than as people, and objectified and sexualised them. We also considered imagery was not relevant to the product being advertised, and that, because the women were presented as passive sexual objects, the ad promoted a harmful gender stereotype.
Because the ad objectified women by portraying them as sexual objects, we considered it was likely to cause serious offence. We also considered that it included a gender stereotype in a way that was likely to cause harm. We therefore concluded the ad was irresponsible and breached the Code.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 1.3 (Social responsibility) and 4.1 and 4.9 (Harm and offence).
Action
The ad must not appear again in its current form. We told Optimize Business Ltd t/a SoulTalk to ensure their ads were socially responsible and did not cause serious or widespread offence, including by objectifying and sexualising women and by including a harmful gender stereotype. We referred the matter to CAP’s Compliance team.
