Victoria Beckham is suing a takeaway restaurant which compared its pizza crusts to her figure.
Victoria Beckham
The 43-year-old model has launched legal action after Sidhu Golden Fish and Chips in Battle Hill, north east England, created a caricature of the Spice Girls singer wearing a sash which reads "Anorexic Fashion Icon" to advertise its 2mm pizza crusts on the back of their delivery van.
The message on the ad reads: "Our new Victoria Beckham Thin Crust only 2mm Thin!! (sic)"
There is also an arrow pointing towards the cartoon drawing of the brunette saying "this is not thin", and another pointing to one of the outer layer of one of their baked flatbreads which reads: "This is thin".
But Victoria's spokesperson has branded the slogan "thoughtless".
They said: "It is highly inappropriate to trivialise such a disorder, and defamatory to be so thoughtless with a person's reputation in this way, sadly this is now a legal matter."
The takeaway's manager Soni Sidhu has insisted the company didn't intend to "make light" of eating disorders.
He said: "As the manager and on the behalf of all our staff and owners I would like to state we recognise how serious eating disorders are and would never make light the seriousness of people with eating disorders.
"We would like our customers and all people in general to take our advertising in context."
However, Marg Oaten, a co-founder of eating disorder support service SEED, has slammed the advert as "appalling" and insisted company bosses should "hang their heads in shame".
She is quoted by Mail Online as saying: "Twenty per cent of people who suffer from an eating disorder die each year.
"To trivialise anorexia in a pizza advert is appalling.
"There has been a lot of good work done around mental health recently, especially by the royals, in reducing the stigma attached to eating disorders.
"This is a step in the wrong direction. The people responsible for this should hang their heads in shame.
"The advert puts people at genuine risk. Those who suffer from eating disorders are constantly battling with their feelings and thoughts."
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