
After complaints surfaced that ads released by L’Oreal cosmetics featured an unrealitic retouched version of actress Julia Roberts and model Christy Turlington, the company was forced to pull the ad campaigns in the UK.
Following politician Jo Swinson’s complaints to parliament that the Julia Roberts for Lancôme’s Teint Miracle foundation ad and Christy Turlington for The Eraser foundation by Maybelline were misleading “due to excessive airbrushing”, the Advertising Standards Authority banned them from future publication.
Swinson argued that the images were not “representative of the results the product could achieve.” L’Oreal admitted that the photos had been “digitally retouched,” but claimed they still showed signs of aging and that the photos “accurately illustrated” the product’s potential results. The company even provided photos of Roberts and Turlington on the red carpet to show their natural beauty in comparison to the ads. Unfortunately, the unretouched ads were not released due to contract agreements between Roberts, Turlington and L’Oreal.
L’Oreal issued a statement expressing they company’s disappointment in the decision to pull the Roberts ad:
“We do not believe that the ad exaggerates the effect that can be achieved using this product. In consumer tests among over 100 women, 77% agreed that Teint Miracle made their complexions look radiant and luminous.”
And as for Turlington’s Eraser campaign:
“The advertisement features Christy Turlington who has beautiful skin and features a product that has been proved scientifically to conceal imperfections. Even though the ad features an obviously illustrated effect, some lines are still clearly visible beneath the illustration and we do not believe that the ad exaggerates the effect that can be achieved using this product. In consumer tests among 253 women, 78% agreed that The Eraser provided flawless coverage.”
Look, the only people who believe that movie stars and models are accurately depicted in ad campaigns and on magazines are people that have been living under a rock. I’m 21, but even as a teenager I knew that those models weren’t like that in real life. It’s just a pretty picture. I’ll never understand all the hubbub surrounding Photoshop. Until you have to have your face plastered on a magazine, you don’t know what a Godsend it really is. Go try it out Swinson, and then get back to me.