So, I run a small vintage clothing store with a small advertising budget and have to choose my advertising outlets carefully to get maximum return on investment. One of the places I advertise is Facebook because I can target my audience pretty precisely. One of the ads I was running had this image in it:

Pretty harmless I thought. And the ad ran for a few days and had a decent click through rate and a decent conversion rate of people who clicked through then liked me. So i expanded the targeting criteria to include more people (namely adding people who are fans of Urban Outfitters and American Apparel and BLAM, ad disapproved:

Ad Disapproval Reason(s):

* The image of this ad is either irrelevant or inappropriate. Per sections 4 and 5 of Facebook’s Advertising Guidelines, the image included with your ad should be directly related to the product/service being advertised.  Images may not exploit political, sexual or other sensitive issues for irrelevant commercial agendas.

Additionally, images that are overly explicit or provocative, or that reveal too much skin, are not permitted. Images that may either degrade or idealize any health condition or body type are also not allowed. Additionally, images may not emulate Facebook features or suggest functionality which is not present (e.g. a video play button). If you choose to submit this ad again, please use an an appropriate image that complies with these guidelines.

Whaaaa? Really? I advertise in a Gannett owned newspaper and as long as I don’t show nipples or penises they’re fine. So why is Facebook advertising so strict/lame/dicks. I asked them, because I thought surely this was a mistake.

The response:

Hi James,

I’ve taken a look at the ad, and we do take issue with it because of the sexual tone.  The pose of the woman pictured is suggestive, and we recommend selecting a more neutral, less revealing image when creating future ads with us.

Thanks,

Wesley

Online Sales Operations Policy Facebook

I didn’t realize Facebook was such a bastion of holy righteous morality. I don’t think the picture with text under it saying basically “hey this is a vintage store, we have these types of clothes.” is misleading.

Vintage clothing, retro style, thrift store x awesome – Downtown Threads – 73 Church Street, Burlington, Vermont

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