Use Hairbrush Not Airbrush

Two adverts were pulled in the UK last week, on the basis of being photoshopped to unrealistic proportions. Poor Julia Roberts and Christy Turlington, who work for L’Oreal and Maybelline respectively, whose lovely visages have been deemed “misleading”. The Advertising Standards Authority, who pulled the adverts, sounded the death knell with, “On the basis of the evidence we had received we could not conclude that the ad image accurately illustrated what effect the product could achieve.” Ouch!

Where this tenuously links to us, I suppose, is the ominous implications that putting the kybosh on print post-production might have for post-production houses. This could see a whole lot of hard-earned technical talents fly out the window, as well as pushing a lot of spotty models back into bartending. Not only this, but what about long term – where will it end? Will Marge Simpson be ordered to the hairdressers for a sensible cut and colour? Will the Bratz have to gain round the waist and lose their T&A and Jolie pout? Will Jolie have to lose her Jolie pout – will it be deemed unrealistic?

So how can we best combat this? And more importantly, do we want to, or is it worth the new world order for a glimpse of a real human type?