Ad description
A paid-for YouTube ad for PixVideo – AI Video Maker, seen in January 2026, showed a side-by-side “before” and “after” comparison image of a young woman. In the “before” image a red scribble was overlayed over the woman’s midriff and appeared to originate from an animated cursor. In the “after” image the area that had been covered by the red scribble now revealed the woman’s bare skin, including underneath her shorts. Text across the bottom of the image stated “Erase anything [heart-eyes emoji]”.
Underneath the image, text stated “PixVideo – AI Video Maker Think it. Get it instantly. Free AI. No creative boundaries” and a button labelled “Install”.
Issue
Eight complainants, who believed the ad sexualised and objectified women, challenged whether it was irresponsible, offensive and harmful.
Response
Saeta Tech Ltd t/a PixVideo – AI Video Maker said they understood the ASA’s concerns about how the creative could be interpreted, particularly around the objectification of women and the implication that someone’s body could be digitally altered or exposed without consent. They recognised those interpretations were harmful and unacceptable, and understood why the ad was considered likely to cause serious offence under the CAP Code.
They said the concerns related to the ad’s presentation and messaging, rather than the intended or permitted use of their product. Their terms prohibited the creation of nude or sexually explicit content and they had automated AI-based detection and blocking to prevent exposed or explicit imagery from being generated. They also said the app did not support, and was not designed to enable, the removal of clothing or the creation of nude imagery.
They accepted the ad did not reflect those safeguards or restrictions and that its wording and visuals risked implying uses they did not support or allow, which was a failure in creative execution and oversight.
They said they had already removed the ad and voluntarily suspended all advertising across all media platforms to carry out a comprehensive internal audit and rectify their marketing materials, and that no advertising had resumed since. Alongside withdrawing the ads, they were upgrading their advertising review and approval processes, including stricter creative guidelines, enhanced internal review, and mandatory compliance checks to ensure future ads did not imply, encourage or normalise harmful, sexualised or non-consensual portrayals.
Assessment
Upheld
The CAP Code stated that ads must be prepared with a sense of responsibility to consumers and to society, must not cause serious or widespread offence and must not include gender stereotypes that were likely to cause harm.
The ad showed a before and after image of a young woman who had parts of her clothing erased to reveal bare skin across her torso including where her shorts and underwear would have been. The ASA considered viewers would understand that the app was capable of removing clothing from images at the user’s discretion. We further considered that the text “Erase everything”, "No creative boundaries" and the use of the heart eye emoji reinforced the impression that the app could be used to create nude images for sexual gratification. Whilst we understood that the app did not permit users to create nude or sexually explicit content, we nonetheless considered that, by implying viewers could digitally remove a woman’s clothing and expose her body, the ad reduced the woman to a sexual object.
Furthermore, because the ad implied that viewers could use an app to remove a woman’s clothing, we considered it condoned digitally altering and exposing women’s bodies without their consent.
We welcomed Saeta Techs’ willingness to remove the ad. However, for the reasons above, we considered that the ad was irresponsible, included a harmful gender stereotype and was likely to cause serious offence.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 1.3 (Social responsibility), 4.1 and 4.9 (Harm and offence).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Saeta Tech Ltd t/a PixVideo – AI Video Maker to ensure that their ads were socially responsible and did not cause serious or widespread offence, including by featuring a harmful gender stereotype by objectifying and sexualising women.
