Just a few weeks ago a story surfaced, rocking the Internet. It involved ’60s supermodel Twiggy and an ad she was in promoting a skin care product. The ad angered the UK government so greatly, they banned the use of photo manipulation advertisements in their country, citing it to be misleading and false. The ad was for an Oil of Olay anti-aging cream that removes wrinkles and tightens the skin. Twiggy was featured on the ad, being in her mid-50s, showing little to no crow’s feet wrinkles around the eyes, wrinkles at the corners of her cheeks or any other signs of aging. Instead, her skin looked radiant and young. Without makeup to cover some of the lines, Twiggy actually does sport crow’s feet and wrinkles, but it doesn’t truly hinder her looks.
What we found was this ad was photoshopped to the max, giving a completely false result to what this cream does. It made it look like it worked miracles when really it was a talented photoshop artist that made the product perform better than it actually does. Unfortunately, people look at these ads and completely believe them which drives them to buy the product with sub-par results. In defense of the company, everyone has different skin and in some people it may work wonders on even the deepest wrinkles and aging skin, and not touch someone with minor wrinkles at all.
Nevertheless, Twiggy was clearly doctored up in that photograph, so the government decided to do something about it. That brings me to a few critical points: 1. Should the government have the power to censor and ban this kind of thing no matter how blatant it is? 2. Should we really photoshop someone to the point they don’t even look the same? 3. Is it the people’s fault for believing everything they see?
To point one, especially in the United States, we have the ability to be free and express ourselves. Europe is not as free as we are; they are socialist in many to all aspects of government, and this is how the government can control the art and how it’s portrayed. They have complete power over everything, silencing the right to speak freely and promote your art as you deem fit. If the United States is going in this direction, you can see a serious problem coming our way. Sure we have the Constitution to protect us, but the government has already shown they don’t care what that document says. In order to have a socialist government, the Constitution would have to be absolved or the government would not have sovereign power to do as they seek fit to control the aspects of our lives. Is this really what we want? Do you think the UK has overstepped their bounds? Sure the ad is misleading, but do they have the right to censor it?
To point number two, the fashion and modeling industry is obsessed with perfection. Women and men who are already as perfect as can be are doctored up to be extra perfect. In my opinion, we are human and we all have some flaws, but those flaws are what makes us unique, special and beautiful in our own right. If you want to remove a mole, pimple, freckle or scar I say go ahead, but to completely photoshop the skin from head to toe making it look plastic, or shrinking someone’s waist size to something they are not, does give off a deceptive persona which can be disappointing when we see these people in person. It also sets a false standard of beauty that the model doesn’t even have that the rest of the world tries to mimic. In doing so, they hurt themselves with unnecessary plastic surgery, expensive creams, and unhealthy diets all for the chance to look like the photoshopped model in the magazine.
That leads us to point number three. With all the knowledge of photoshop being used in the fashion, marketing and promotion industry, it’s almost unimaginable that we would believe these people really look the way they do in the pictures. I mean come on already, do you really think an anti-aging cream company would put someone on their ad that has less than perfect skin? No, why even place the ad because nobody would give it a second look. Since no one looks like that, they have to doctor the photo manipulation. It’s hard to believe some of us are this gullible and nieve to believe this garbage. The best thing we can do is to say, “I’ll try it and see if the results are the same,” but to run out and expect the same results and get angry when it doesn’t happen is just plain stupid in my opinion. Air Jordan shoes never made anyone jump like Michael Jordan. Gatorade never made you perform any better, it just kept you from dehydrating. So why are beauty creams and cosmetics any different?
It’s terrible that we have to doctor photos to show perfection, when perfection is already achieved with the natural beauty we possess.
Social Networks