Avon pulls 'body shaming' campaign following criticism from Jameela Jamil

The beauty brand admitted it 'missed the mark' when promoting new 'cellulite combating' product

Jameela Jamil arrives at the 24th annual Critics' Choice Awards on Sunday, Jan. 13, 2019, at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
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The Good Place's Jameela Jamil is making a name for herself as a champion of women, calling out people and brands guilty of body shaming at every opportunity.

As well as naming companies that sell weight-loss quick fixes, publications that airbrush and celebrities who promote an unhealthy body image, the British actress started I Weigh, an Instagram body-positivity campaign.

The movement – which has attracted more than 300,000 followers since March last year – encourages followers to stop measuring their worth by a number on the scales, but with accomplishments and personality traits instead. Celebrities including Emmy Rossum and Kristen Bell have taken part in the movement.

Now, Avon is the latest brand to be called out by the actress.

Jamil targeted the beauty brand after the launch of a campaign that told women “dimples are cute on your face” but “not on your thighs”.

"And yet EVERYONE has dimples on their thighs, I do, you do, and the CLOWNS at @Avon_UK certainly do," Jamil tweeted. "Stop shaming women about age, gravity and cellulite. They're inevitable, completely normal things. To make us fear them and try to 'fix' them, is to literally set us up for failure."

The accompanying image was taken from the beauty brand's latest North American brochure, promoting a new "cellulite combating" product.

She didn't stop there 

Jamil then went on to accuse Avon of "abusive advertising".

Avon US responded on Twitter, saying, "We realise we missed the mark".

The full statement read: "Hi Jameela, we intended this to be light hearted and fun, but we realise we missed the mark. We’ve removed this messaging from all marketing materials. We support our community in loving their bodies and feeling confident in their own skin."

The British arm of Avon added: "We hear you and we apologise. We messed up on our Smooth Moves Naked Proof messaging. We want to let you know that we are working diligently to remove this messaging from our marketing materials moving forward. We're on it. We love our community of women."

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