When you walk across the cosmetic aisle at any beauty store, what do you see? Countless advertisements of flawless beauty posterized everywhere for women to see, admire and desire. The advertisements scream “you can look just like this!!!” … if you buy this
product of course.
Below are some before and after Photoshop images:
Cecilia’s blog post (https://blogs.ubc.ca/ceciliachun/2012/02/08/maybe-shes-born-with-it/) summarizes the use of deceptive advertising in the cosmetic industry and the ethical issues that accompany it. The blog post points out two advertisements featuring celebrities with unattainable flawless skin and unrealistic eyelashes. By looking at these perfect images, women are falsely led to believe that they too, can achieve these impeccable results with the purchase of these products.
The ethical issues arise when the product fails to deliver these flawless results proving that the company only cares about their own benefit and not their consumers. I found an article that fit in perfectly with the ethical issues of Photoshop and the cosmetic industry. In the United Kingdom, an ad featuring Julia Roberts for L’Oreal has been circulating the internet and has even caught the attention of the Advertising Standards Authortiy (ASA) for the over-the-top airbrushing done on her skin. The ad was later banned due to its heavy use of photoshop. Is this the beginning of the end of Photoshop use in advertisements?
Personally I am neutral about the use of photoshop in cosmetic advertisements. I think that in this age today, it is a given fact to most women that the advertisements are heavily photoshopped. For me, all the advertisements for cosmetic products are obviously photoshopped, therefore, I have never been falsely misled. I think that it is also up to the consumers to research, watch reviews, ask their friends and go online before buying a product. I believe that although some companies may want to limit their use of Photoshop or not use it at all, they have to in order to remain competitive. If all the other companies are doing it, their “photoshop free” ad will look mediocre, drawing the attention to the photoshopped advertisement beside it.
Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/236808/julia_roberts_ad_banned_in_the_uk_for_abuse_of_photoshop.html