Twiggy's Photoshopped Olay ads banned in England
 

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Perhaps we should start calling 2009 the year of the airbrush. The latest Photoshop scandal involves not an emaciated model nor a bizarrely-retouched actress on the cover of a fashion magazine, but instead a 60-year-old icon with not enough crows' feet for anyone's liking.

Let's catch you up: Last summer, beauty company Olay debuted its Definity eye cream campaign depicting model Twiggy looking far younger, smoother, and firmer than her then 59 years should suggest. The '60s fashion star appeared virtually wrinkle-free in the ads and, since her baby-faced visage was selling anti-aging cream to older women, quite a few people—including bloggers, news outlets, and the British Parliament—grew quite disturbed.

In August, British lawmakers called for a ban on the digitally altered ads, suggesting they mislead the public. And, in the ensuing months, the U.K's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received hundreds of complaints from the public, claiming the Olay images were "socially irresponsible" and could have a "negative impact on people's perceptions of their own body image, " The Guardian reports.

Finally, yesterday, the ASA banned the complete set of Olay Twiggy ads, ruling that the post-production retouching could give consumers a "misleading impression of the effect the product could achieve."

You think?

In the ads, Twiggy says, "Olay is my secret to brighter-looking eyes" and "Because younger-looking eyes never go out of fashion...[it] reduces the look of wrinkles and dark circles for brighter, younger-looking eyes."

However, since Olay admits to "minor retouching" around Twiggy's eyelid area (essentially wiping out any indication of undereye darkness, bags, and fine lines), we know the cream is not really her secret. Instead it's a skilled computer technician, which is something you just can't bottle and sell for $23.89. Nor is this "secret" available to most women. Honestly, it's refreshing that, with the banning of these ads, finally someone is saying just that.

Source:
The Guardian, Cele*****y
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/beaut...ngland-554961/

Have you seen the actual photo of Twiggy? She really looks great! There was no reason to airbrush her.

I think that picture of her is kinda wierd...doesn't look natural (i'm not talking about the photoshoped face) but the pose and smile...I think it's the angle of the camera, if the camera is pointed at her face maybe it'll be better...

I miss twiggy on ANTM she's my favorite

Odd, really, because Twigs is also in adverts for Marks and Spencer in the UK, looking pretty normal for her age (well, on the good end of normal). She was also in the press a lot when she had her 60th birthday. So most of us here have some idea of what she looks like nowadays. And it isn't like the Olay ad.

I'm not sure I think it's right to ban photoshopping on the basis of women's self-image, but I do think it's ridiculous to allow companies use photoshopped images to sell products to improve appearance. It's just plain lying.

I have mixed feelings about this issue. On the one hand I think it is fantastic when beauty companies portray older and more real models in their ads like Isabella Rosellini, or the Dove ads. It's wonderful progress that we see ourselves reflected in the media.

On the other hand I am not a big fan of Twiggy's. First of all when she hit the scene in the 60's she transformed the world of modeling but not in a good way. Models at that time had an athletic build, and her appearance was emaciated. Models have been getting skinnier and skinnier ever since.

Furthermore Twiggy has not aged well when compared to models of the same era. I don't think she looks like a model anymore, more like a soccer Mom who smoked too much and I don't particularly think she's a good representation of the older woman I'd like to see in an advertisement. I never liked her personality on AMTM because I felt she was obviously prejudiced against minorities and favored the blonde white girls.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4012/...735409c7_o.png

This was Twiggy in 2006. That ad is just ridiculous.

ETA: I don't mean this as a slam against older women at all, but the misrepresentation by "beauty companies" to sell products. It just pisses me off to see such aggressive photo manipulation, especially when it affects the self-esteem of women viewing this ad. "Wow, if Twiggy looks that great at 60, I look like a saggy hag in comparison! I need that $$$ cream to be pretty again!"

GRRRRR.