Iran has banned women from adverts following backlash over a recent commercial, which featured someone displaying ‘sexual mannerisms’ while eating an ice-cream.
Officials ruled that the advert, created by Tehran-based brand Domino Dairy, went ‘against public decency’ and was an ‘insult’ to ‘women's values’.
Now Iran's Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance has reportedly said to the country’s art and cinema schools that, as per ‘hjiab and chastity rules’, women are no longer allowed to feature in commercials.
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In a letter, the government ministry told the schools that the ban conforms to rulings issued by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.
The ban, it said, was also based on Iran's rules and regulations concerning commercial adverts, which prohibit ‘instrumental use’ not only of women, but also men and children.
While the ban has long been in force, now the way in which the term ‘instrumental use’ is interpreted differs depending on how strict the ruling administration is at the time, meaning the change is being seen as a new restriction.
RFE/RL’s Radio Farda explained that women were being prohibited from appearing in advertisements as part of the government’s ‘tightening’ of the ‘so-called hijab and chastity law’.
It comes after backlash to the Domino Dairy ice cream ad, which featured a woman driving up a mountain before stopping to enjoy an ice cream.
A government agency said the ad was ‘a crime’, adding that such content leads to the ‘promotion of immorality’ in Iranian society.
Fars News Agency, which is affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, also called the commercial ‘disgusting’.
“Recently a famous ice cream maker brand published a video clip that drew reactions from social media users,” it said.
“In this clip, a woman, improperly dressed and with totally erotic and sexual mannerisms and gestures, which are precisely at the heart of the commercial, promotes the ice cream by eating it."
The ban also comes after a 5 July order by President Ebrahim Raisi to enforce the hijab law, which has led to a new set of restrictions on how women can dress.
The news has been met with criticism from many Iranian women, who have launched a social media campaign with the hashtag #no2hijab, urging people to boycott companies that enforce the tougher restrictions.
On 12 July 12, women's rights activists also protested the government’s National Day of Hijab and Chastity by posting videos of themselves publicly removing their veils.
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Topics: World News
Jess Hardiman