A motor parts supplier in Wales has been reprimanded by the advertising watchdog for an online promotion featuring a woman's bottom.

A complaint was made to the Advertising Standards Authority after Spartan Motor Factors' website homepage featured a close-up picture of a woman's bottom clothed in fishnet tights and underwear shorts with the company's logo printed on them. Text stated "Small enough to offer the personal touch. Short & Round".

After the ASA approached Spartan Motor Factors, the company said it believed its advertising was no different from that of other car part suppliers in Wales, and it explained that "Short & Round" referred to an event they had sponsored at the time, and "Small enough to offer the personal touch" was its company strapline because it was were the smallest car part supplier in the area.

It removed the advert from its website.

The ASA considered the image of a scantily clad woman's bottom bore no relevance to the advertised service and was therefore likely to be seen as sexist and to demean and objectify women by using their physical features for no other reason than to draw attention to the ad.

"We therefore concluded that the ad was likely to cause serious offence to some consumers," said the ASA.