The number of UK adverts showing diverse body types plummeted in 2025 amid wider debate about cultural shifts in beauty ideals and the seeming decline of body positivity, new data from Kantar shows.
Just 15% of TV and digital ads showed different female bodies in 2025 versus 28% in 2024. The decline was similarly stark for campaigns showing diverse male body types which fell a whopping 12 percentage points year on year to just 18% of ads. The change brings the UK closer in line with the USA and global averages, despite it previously being far ahead.
| Includes TV and digital ads | UK | Global | USA | ||||||||||||||
| Year | 2024 | 2025 | 2024 | 2025 | 2024 | 2025 | |||||||||||
| Diverse body female | 28% | 15% | 15% | 12% | 15% | 14% | |||||||||||
| Diverse body male | 30% | 18% | 15% | 12% | 14% | 11% | |||||||||||
The drop in the UK’s performance risks denting advertisers’ commercial effectiveness, warns Lynne Deason, head of creative excellence at Kantar: “Body diversity seems to have fallen off adland’s radar. Advertising often reflects societal trends and whether it’s because of conversations about the growing use of weight loss drugs or how AI is changing beauty ideals, the data reveals a major shift in the different bodies we’re seeing on our screens. The change is right across the board, impacting men as well as women.
“This pull back from diversity should set alarm bells ringing because we know that inclusiveness sells, and in fact it’s getting more important to consumers not less so. In 2025 nearly two thirds of people (65%) told us they valued companies who promote diversity and inclusion, up from 59% in 2021[1]. Advertisers need to put body diversity back on the agenda and make considered choices when casting, whether it’s central to the campaign or simply part of showing the richness of real life.”
Research has previously found that positive people portrayals in advertising drive a 3.5% to 5% uplift for short-term sales and boost long-term sales by 16% compared with less inclusive ads. Kantar BrandZ data shows the benefits for brands such as Dove which has championed more expansive and inclusive beauty ideals through its Real Beauty campaign, launched in 2004. Its recent campaign, “Let Them Talk”, in partnership with Netflix and Shondaland, celebrates individuality and the defiance of convention. Dove grew its brand value by 13% year on year in 2025, outpacing the UK average of 8%.
