A TV ad for a "nude scanner" mobile app has been banned for being demeaning to women.

The Advertising Standards Authority received 26 complaints that the ad, which aired during six episodes of Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks, was demeaning to women and was broadcast when children might see it.

It showed a phone with the Nude Scanner 3D app giving the impression it was "scanning" a woman's body and revealing her naked but with her breasts and crotch blurred out.

A voiceover said the app was a way to "prank your friends to think you can see what any of them look like without clothes on".

In banning the ad, the ASA said: "Because the ad focused on the product's apparent ability to enable the user to view naked images of women using the camera on their phone, and had a prolonged focus on the female model, we considered it was unsuitable for a child audience and was likely to be viewed as demeaning to women and, therefore, offensive."

It concluded: "Whilst younger children may not understand the references to a 'nude scanner', that was unlikely to be the case for older children and we considered them to be the group most likely to have been interested in downloading the app."

The app's maker Jesta – which also trades as Jamster, best known for creating the short-lived Crazy Frog ringtone phenomenon – said it pulled the ad when complaints started coming in.

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