A cosmetic advertisement featuring actress Julia Roberts has been banned in Britain after it was digitally altered to make her skin look flawless.
The move by U.K’s Advertising Standards Agency came after Liberal Democrat MP Joe Swinson issued a complaint regarding the “misleading” ad, meant to promote foundation products made by L’Oreal’s Maybelline and Lancôme.
Swinson, who has spearheaded a long-running campaign against altering images in ads, said the images for the L’Oreal-owned brands Lancome and Maybelline were “not representative of the results the product could achieve.”
“Excessive airbrushing and digital manipulation techniques have become the norm, but both Christy Turlington and Julia Roberts are naturally beautiful women who don’t need retouching to look great,” said Swinson.
Upon requesting the “pre-shopped” image of the actress, ASA was shot down as L’Oreal explained that Roberts’ contract stipulates no un-airbrushed shots can be released.
“It shows just how ridiculous things have become when there is such fear over an un-airbrushed photo that even the advertising regulator isn’t permitted to see it,” explained Swinson.
While L’Oreal admitted to retouching the photos, they argued that the products being promoted were capable of yielding the results displayed on the advertisements.
In addition to the Roberts advertisement, another L’Oreal magazine ad featuring supermodel Christy Turlington was also pulled for being over-enhanced.
Let’s hear your thoughts on the matter, do you think the shot is “ too photoshopped “?
via CNN
