I haven’t decided yet whether I want to applaud the UK’s Advertising Standards Association for banning two cosmetic ads featuring Julia Roberts and Christy Turlington or give them a Cher ‘snap out of it’ slap across the face.
Why are they being banned? That would be for overly airbrushing. Um hello. Every freaking ad campaign and celeb picture is overly airbrushed! Does anyone think that the products in ads actually do what they say they’re going to do. Listen, if I thought I could buy some cream and look like Julia Roberts does in an ad….then I deserve to lose my $50 and I probably have an acre of swampland in Florida too.
My step-brother photographs fashion ads and I’ve seen the airbrushing first hand. Every single person is airbrushed, even the size zero model. When I look at an ad, I like to look at the beauty of it – or the hilarity of it – or the message behind it – depending what type of ad it is. Do I think my teeth will be pearly white after sticking some strips on it for two days? Nope. Do I think I can do yoga in a white body suit on day two of my period? Not a freaking chance…I’ll be too busy popping zits and eating chocolate.
The most realistic – if not the most annoying – ads are the US medical ads. You know where they say take this pill to cure your fibromialgia (whatever that is) but you could get arthritis, crabs and heartburn as side effects? See? No one needs the truth…for that we can watch the Jersey Shore!
What do you think? Should they pull these ads? Why are these ones so different than all the other ones out there?
butt firming lotion?
I really need that
come to think of it- could I get dipped like an old antique chair?
I’ve been using Dove all my life, but when the “real beauty” campaign began, it was almost enough to make me quit. Why? Because at the same time they were showing us how beautiful a natural woman is, they were shilling butt firming lotion.
The UK was also the first to insist upon mascara ads including a disclaimer when they used false lashes.
All that being said, I am a photographer, and yes, I re-touch my images. Why? Because the camera picks up minute details you would never normally notice. So yes, I’ll cover the zits and smooth out the skin a teeny bit, to reflect how I see the person, not how a piece of machinery does. I’ve been asked to do drastic things like change noses, body parts, hair colour, clothing, and though I can do it quite well, I resist it every time. Hmmmm…maybe that’s a posting for another day.
advertising is advertising-there is an old saying-don’t believe anything you hear and only half of what you see,until it can be proven to you as 100% accurate.
One thing I always remember about being young and seeing ads that were in my sisters magazines (she’s 7yrs older) was that my skin would never be like theirs and it made me hate my freckles. I thought they made me look dirty and ugly.
I remember asking my mum when my freckles would fade. Praying that they would go away and that I could have skin like my friends…
Cut to now – my husband loves my freckles and thinks they’re sexy.
It’s funny – the thing that stood out most to me in the pic of Victoria Beckham snuggling her new baby girl was that VB has freckles. Who knew??
I totally agree with Lee Anne. The point isn’t about those who already know the truth or question the reality of these pics but about those who see them as real or achievable – our kids. My daughter is 8 and her biggest fear is being ” fat”, more than cancer or diabetes or any illness. Where does this come from? Advertising and pop culture where “fat and ugly” or “fat and stupid” are synonymous. And no “fat” people appear in beauty or fashion ads.
I applaud the decision to ban these ads. Even if it is just one small step it is making people stop and think.
And Erin is right that Dove is just selling a product and their goal is the same as ever. However, like Nancy, I too still feel better about it. Baby steps.
I think it’s opening a really interesting debate, so whether they are going too far or not, I’m happy they’ve started the talking with this!
As I understand it, the objection is that the airbrushing goes so far as to suggest the product works in a far different and better way than it really does, and therefore contravenes truth in advertising rules. I can see that argument, even in an industry in which, as you say, airbrushing comes standard.
yes- all business is in the business to sell but at least they were trying to be revolutionary about how they went about it. I liked it- I thought the message was fresh and I liked what it said.
The young girls see it and expect to be it. Just sayin’. It hurts them.
As for Dove – that was a campaign…to sell product. There are not ethics there, the same company sells Axe, and worse, a skin lightening product for Indian women. Because, the lighter your skin is, the more attractive you are…and a product can do that for you.
Sorry, I think it’s all BS, right on to the UK for doing a little somethin, somethin!
Lee Ann – you rock – both for saying I’m funny which is a huge compliment….but for pointing stuff out like that to your daughter….
I’m with Nancy: It’s not the ads that are dangerous. It’s perpetuating the myth that they’re factual.
Sarah you kill me, you’re seriously one of the funniest women I know! Personally I couldn’t give a crap about these types of ads but what I do care about is what my 13 year old daughter thinks. Sometimes I’ll point out a “perfect skin / hair” ad from Vogue Magazine and ask her if she ever sees anyone walking down the street who looks like this. It’s like a little reality check for her. I’m happy that she knows the difference between the ads and reality. xo
all of it bugs me. I applaud Dove’s campaign on real beauty and self esteem and no others.
Beauty is a life long pursuit of loving yourself and getting over what is yours and not perfect and getting on with what makes each of us beautiful. The inside out stuff.
Magazines erode our self image of our own beauty. Should only some photos be banned- likely not- they are all fakers and should be treated as fantasy only. I remember in my twenties reading them and feeling worse about myself. I don’t have the time or interest anymore.
My rant. Thank you.
i guess it’s like that dove campaign for beauty ad…where they showed a “normal” woman and then sped up the time in which it took her to become “beautiful”. people don’t know the lengths that companies go to to make their product the perfect one. even food isn’t even real food in the pictures!
i know celebrities have wrinkles and *gasp* cellulite! i see the “shocking photos” at the checkout all the time.