What’s behind the culture of Photoshop in advertising?
Mar 22nd, 2013 by WendyS
All the advertisements we see today has been “retouched” by using Photoshop or some other tools, which is an open “secret” in all industries. But how will this phenomenon affect consumers? Is it ethical to present an “unrealistic” image to consumers?
An article from Globe and Mail, written by Susan Krashinsky, tried to find out where the demand from “retouching” came from. It seems that this phenomenon just occurred naturally and the public has expected this to happen. Dan Strasser, an art director claimed, “…even if you’re just taking a photo of a natural setting. You’re going to tweak the colour balance.” However, researchers also found that skewed beauty images cause female consumers to experience a negative effect on their body image and possibly promote eating disorders. Furthermore, parents should be alert and tell their children that what they see in advertisements is not always real.
An example from Dove’s famous video: “Evolution”
I believe that the use of Photoshop is acceptable, but not to the extent such that the product’s image has been tweaked entirely. It is unethical to advertise unrealistic images of the product to attract consumers. This will ultimately affect the company brand once consumers find out that the actual product looks dramatically different from what they have seen in the ads. Moreover, consumers’ perceptions nowadays are placing more significance towards “natural beauty”. Thus, it is crucial that companies think before they act and be more responsible for what/how they advertise.