Perhaps we should start calling 2009 the year of the airbrush. The latest Photoshop scandal involves not anemaciated model nor a bizarrely-retouched actress on the cover of a fashion magazine, but instead a 60-year-old icon with not enough crows' feet for anyone's liking.
Let's catch you up: Last summer, beauty company Olay debuted its Definity eye cream campaign depicting model Twiggy looking far younger, smoother, and firmer than her then 59 years should suggest. The '60s fashion star appeared virtually wrinkle-free in the ads and, since her baby-faced visage was selling anti-aging cream to older women, quite a few people—including bloggers, news outlets, and the British Parliament—grew quite disturbed.
In August, British lawmakers called for a ban on the digitally altered ads, suggesting they mislead the public. And, in the ensuing months, the U.K's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received hundreds of complaints from the public, claiming the Olay images were "socially irresponsible" and could have a "negative impact on people's perceptions of their own body image, " The Guardian reports.
Finally, yesterday, the ASA banned the complete set of Olay Twiggy ads, ruling that the post-production retouching could give consumers a "misleading impression of the effect the product could achieve."
You think?
In the ads, Twiggy says, "Olay is my secret to brighter-looking eyes" and "Because younger-looking eyes never go out of fashion...[it] reduces the look of wrinkles and dark circles for brighter, younger-looking eyes."
However, since Olay admits to "minor retouching" around Twiggy's eyelid area (essentially wiping out any indication of undereye darkness, bags, and fine lines), we know the cream is not really her secret. Instead it's a skilled computer technician, which is something you just can't bottle and sell for $23.89. Nor is this "secret" available to most women. Honestly, it's refreshing that, with the banning of these ads, finally someone is saying just that.
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